MMSE vs MoCA: Is One Better Than the Other?

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), often used in clinical practice as a quick screen for Alzheimer disease (AD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), get high marks for diagnostic accuracy in a study of community-dwelling older adults, according to a study done by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. But the study also suggests that as a brief, stand-alone cognitive screening measure, the MoCA seems to be more sensitive than the more widely used MMSE.