MoCA Talk #23:
From JAMA to GUIDE: A 20-Year Journey Advancing Dementia Care (Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH) - Thu, June 5, 2025, 12:00 PM EDT
The MoCA-Blind is an adapted version of the standard MoCA. It retains the structure and content of the original test, but all visually dependent tasks have been removed,
Purpose: The MoCA-Blind is designed to screen for mild cognitive impairment in individuals with visual impairment or in situations where remote, non-visual administration is required.
Administration time
Approximately 5-10 minutes.
Setting
The MoCA-Blind can be administered either in person or by telephone. The examinee should be situated in a calm, and controlled environment, free from distractions such as television, pets, or other people.
Form
Paper-based; the examiner presents all standardized stimuli orally, and records the examinee’s responses directly on the test sheet.
Cost
Freely available for clinical and educational use; a license is required for commercial use.
The MoCA-Blind is scored manually, in accordance with the guidelines provided in the instructional PDF. The total score ranges from 0 to 22 points, with higher scores indicating better cognitive functioning. Scores of 19 or higher are generally considered within normal limits.
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| Property | Summary of Findings Across Studies | Typical Values / Ranges | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
Internal Consistency | High across studies, indicating reliable measurement of cognitive domains | α ≈ 0.85–0.90 | Suggests items consistently measure overall cognition in blind individuals |
Test-Retest Reliability | Good to excellent; stable over 2–4 week intervals | ICC ≈ 0.80–0.90 | Scores are reproducible over short intervals, suitable for monitoring change |
Sensitivity | Adequate to high for detecting mild cognitive impairment and dementia | 0.80–0.90 | Effectively identifies individuals with cognitive impairment |
Specificity | Adequate to high for identifying cognitively healthy individuals | 0.75–0.90 | Minimizes false positives among healthy individuals |
Normative Data | Norms established for multiple populations, including oldest-old and Czech sample; includes reliable change indices | Norm tables stratified by age and population | Provides reference values for interpreting individual scores and tracking change over time |