Early Cognitive Screening tools for visually impaired elderly under the interprofessional practice

Simple testing tools can quickly identify elderly individuals who are experiencing early cognitive impairment.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a simple test that can accurately and comprehensively screens elderly with early cognitive impairment. Currently, MoCA is used in over 200 countries worldwide and has been translated into more than 60 different languages and dialects. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment encompasses various domains of cognitive abilities, including language ability, visual-spatial judgment, executive ability, calculation ability, and decision-making ability, etc.

At present, visually impaired elderly individuals in Hong Kong are unable to benefit from traditional cognitive assessment tests. Commonly used scales require visual construction skills, such as clocks drawing and connecting lines between items.

In view of this, our Occupational Therapist, Mr. Armstrong Chiu, worked with Dr. Calvin Yip (Associate Professor (Occupational Therapy), School of Medical and Health Sciences, Tung Wah College), Dr. Winsy Wong (Research Assistant Professor (Speech Therapy) of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, Faculty of Humanities of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Dr. Cheng Pak Wing (Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong) to extend the collaborated study to the research work titled “The Hong Kong version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Visually Impaired Elderly) HKMoCa-VI Scale and Scoring Method” for visually impaired elderly in residential settings.

Research results revealed that the MoCA-VI has a sensitivity of 89.29% and a specificity of 83.58% in detecting early cognitive impairment in visually impaired elderly individuals. This research has been published in the international journal PLOS ONE on June 24, 2024, and is available for free access to social welfare practitioners, professionals, and the public.