Influence of Age and Education on the Performance of Elderly in the Brazilian Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Battery.

AIMS

To provide normative data for the Brazilian version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-BR) and to measure the effect of sociodemographic variables on the cognitive performance of cognitively healthy elderly people.

METHODS

A sample of 110 cognitively healthy individuals, aged over 65 years, with at least 4 years of schooling were recruited from 3 health care centers for the elderly in Recife, Brazil. The cognitive performance was assessed using MoCA-BR.

RESULTS

The average score of these elderly people in the MoCA-BR was 23.2 ± 2.7. Their schooling correlated positively with the cognitive performance, with a Spearman's coefficient of 0.33 (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between age and the cognitive performance (Spearman's rho = -0.19). The multiple linear regression model with the highest adjusted coefficient of determination was the one that included schooling and age (adjusted R2 = 0.127).

CONCLUSIONS

The cognitive performance of healthy elderly was evaluated and was strongly influenced by schooling and, to a lower degree, by age.