BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia are non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The Telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) is a quick tool designed to screen for cognitive dysfunction remotely; it allows for clinical decision-making.
METHOD: Cross-sectional study carried out during 2022-2024 in Lima Peru. Eligible subjects were screened remotely by phone using T-MoCA, Geriatric depression scale (GDS) and, and Pfeffer functional activities questionnaire. The T-MoCA scores for each group were: cognitively unimpaired (18-22), MCI (15-17) and dementia (<15). Groups were compared using ANOVA, and a Spearman correlation matrix was used to explore relationships between sociodemographic and cognitive variables. Ethical approval was obtained by CIEI-INCN.
RESULT: We screened 155 PD cases, 60.7% men. Age at onset were 57.6 ±13.8, age at examination were 63± 12.9. The average of year of education of 11 [6-14]. We divided the patients into 3 groups: cognitively unimpaired (n = 42), MCI (n = 40), and dementia (n = 73); and the T-MoCA average score was 19.4± 1.3, 16.1 ± 0.74, and 10.1 ±3.14, respectively. No differences were found between the groups by sex. The GDS average score was 6.6±3.8 points suggesting mild depression. Years of education positively correlated with sentences repetition, abstraction, and the total T-MoCA score (r = 0.56, r=0.63 and r = 0.65, respectively). The Pfeffer Score showed a negative correlation with the T-MoCA (r = -0.54), reflecting an increase in functional dependence in patients with greater impairment.
CONCLUSION: The T-MoCA is a remote tool able to differentiate degrees of cognitive impairment in PD and emphasize the importance of sociodemographic factors, such as years of education, in cognitive performance.
