Using moca for cognitive impairment screening in long-term psychosis patients.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment is a key feature in patients with psychotic disorders. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a brief tool that has been shown to be effective in identifying mild cognitive impairment and early dementia. Objectives: This study explores the usefulness of this instrument to detect cognitive impairment in long-term psychotic disorders. Methods: One hundred-forty stabilized patients were re-evaluated more than 15 years after a First Episode of Psychosis (FEP). Patients were psychopathologically assessed, and the MoCA test and Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) battery were administered. Two cut-off scores for cognitive impairment using the MATRICS battery were applied (T score <40 and <30). Results: Concurrent validation was found between the total scores of the MoCA and MATRICS. We also found significant associations between 5 out of 7 MoCA subtests (visuospatial-executive, attention, language, abstraction and delayed recall) and MATRICS subtests but not for the naming and orientation MoCA subtests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis suggested a <25 cut-off for cognitive impairment instead of the original <26. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the MoCA test is a useful screening instrument for assessing cognitive impairment in psychotic patients and has some advantages over other available instruments, such as its ease-of-use and short administration time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]