A 4-Item Case-Finding Tool to Detect Dementia in Older Persons

Brief cognitive tests are recommended in clinical services outside of specialized memory clinics as case-finding tools to reduce the diagnostic gap of dementia. Although the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is among the most widely used brief tests in specialized memory clinics, its length precludes routine use in nonspecialty clinics. This study investigated whether a small subset of MoCA would suffice to match the performance of the full MoCA in detecting dementia and, hence, be useful in nonspecialty clinics.