Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Cognitive screening measures are an important component when diagnosing dementia. With the increasing prevalence of dementia cases worldwide, accurate diagnoses are important for ensuring individuals with dementia are provided with adequate care and support. Diagnosing dementia early in the course of disease will be critical because it is at this stage where treatments can be most effective. Although screening measures for dementia exist, disparities in accessing these services may contribute to undiagnosed or misdiagnosed dementia among ethnic minorities, individuals with lower income, and those who reside in remote areas. Screening measures for dementia can become more inclusive through administering cognitive tests remotely and using measures that are applicable to diverse ethnic backgrounds. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a 10­-minute screening tool that measures cognitive functions like memory, attention, and language. MoCA scores range from 0 to 30 and cut­offs are used to classify dementia, mild­cognitive impairment (a phase that often precedes dementia) and healthy aging. However, these cut­offs may misdiagnosis ethnic minorities since non­-White ethnic groups typically show worse performance on the MoCA. Therefore, the objective of this research is to establish more accurate MoCA cut­off scores among the most common ethnic groups in Canada. The MoCA will be administered to all participants remotely. To determine accuracy, results from the MoCA will be compared to their true clinical diagnosis. This research holds important clinical implications since these cut­offs will lead to more accurate diagnoses among ethnic minorities, contributing to a more equitable, diverse and inclusive field of cognitive testing.