Background:

The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are screening instruments frequently used to detect probable mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The MoCA has shown greater sensitivity and specificity in the clinical population than the MMSE. However, the proportion of people with MCI using the MoCA may be overestimated in the community. Therefore, the objective is to identify in older adults in the community in Mexico City the prevalence of probable DCL using the MoCA and the MMSE.

Method:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out, in a sample of 231 participants belonging to community groups with an age between 55 and 90 years and schooling from 0 to 22 years; MMSE and MoCA were applied.

Results:

a score is obtained in MMSE of 25.0 ± 3.1 and in MoCA of 19.8 ± 5.4 with a moderate correlation (r = 0.59, p < 0.05) between them. 84% of the population using MoCA and 23.8% of the population using MMSE are classified as likely MCI.

Conclusion:

The MMSE can give an estimate more similar to what is reported in the literature than the MoCA in the community. The implications in public policies, in clinical use and in research of an overestimation in the proportion of people with probable MCI are discussed.

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