Mini-mental state exam versus Montreal Cognitive Assessment in patients with diabetic retinopathy

BACKGROUND: Mini-mental state exam (MMSE) was used several times but no study has examined cognition on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR). In this study, we compared MMSE with MoCA in patients with DR and searched for an association between the severity of DR and cognitive impairment (CI). METHODS: This cross-sectional study comprised 120 consecutive patients with diabetes. Patients were divided into four groups as no DR, mild DR, severe nonproliferative DR (PDR) and PDR. Each group consisted 30 inviduals. CI was assessed using the MMSE and MoCA. RESULTS: The number of subjects with a score>21 were significantly lower on the MoCA than on the MMSE between groups (all P<0.05). The mean MoCA score was significantly lower than the MMSE score (P<0.001) There was a linear association between the grade of DR and a score<21 on both tests, CONCLUSION: MoCA provides more insight into the cognitive function in DR.