DEVELOPMENT OF A SWEDISH SHORT VERSION OF THE MONTREAL COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT FOR COGNITIVE SCREENING IN PATIENTS WITH STROKE

Objective: The primary objective was to develop a Swedish short version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (s-MoCA-SWE) for use with patients with stroke. Secondary objectives were to iden-tify an optimal cut-off value for the s-MoCA-SWE to screen for cognitive impairment and to compare its sensitivity with that of previously developed short forms of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Design: Cross-sectional study.Subjects/patients: Patients admitted to stroke and rehabilitation units in hospitals across Sweden. Methods: Cognition was screened using the Mont-real Cognitive Assessment. Working versions of the s-MoCA-SWE were developed using supervised and unsupervised algorithms.Results: Data from 3,276 patients were analysed (40% female, mean age 71.5 years, 56% minor stroke at admission). The suggested s-MoCA-SWE compri-sed delayed recall, visuospatial/executive function, serial 7, fluency, and abstraction. The aggregated scores ranged from 0 to 16. A threshold for impai-red cognition & LE; 12 had a sensitivity of 97.41 (95% confidence interval, 96.64-98.03) and positive pre-dictive value of 90.30 (95% confidence interval 89.23-91.27). The s-MoCA-SWE had a higher abso-lute sensitivity than that of other short forms.Conclusion: The s-MoCA-SWE (threshold & LE; 12) can detect post-stroke cognitive issues. The high sensitivity makes it a potentially useful rule-out tool that may eliminate severe cognitive impair-ment in people with stoke.

Automated summary

The study aimed to develop a Swedish short version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (s-MoCA-SWE) for stroke patients. The secondary objectives were to determine the optimal cut-off value for the s-MoCA-SWE to screen for cognitive impairment and compare its sensitivity with previous short forms of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.