The experts behind the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, are hoping that recent political campaign jawboning about cognitive abilities among some high-profile candidates will get older adults more concerned about mental impairment — and willing to use a new app.
The new app, named XpressO, is free to use and involves a “rapid” cognitive assessment for users, the company behind the tool, MoCA Cognition, announced this week.
Although the MoCA test is a screening tool, not a diagnostic one, studies show that the test and other similar tools point to important implications for care and treatment of older adults or anyone showing cognitive decline.
“Early detection permits earlier intervention that saves major healthcare costs and improves patient outcomes,” MoCA Cognition CEO Ziad Nasreddine, MD, said in a statement. “Demand for cognitive testing is growing, both among seniors with normal brain health and with impairment. XpressO was conceived to provide peace of mind to the ‘worried well’ and motivation to consult with a physician for others.”
Many experts have argued cognitive evaluations must be routine in older adults’ primary care, the McKnight’s Clinical Daily reported last year; putting those tools on an app would make this even easier.
Although use of such assessments has grown among Medicare beneficiaries over the past few years, use of such testing tools is low, especially among older adults living in rural locations, according to a recently released government report.
The MoCA test is one of the more well-known options for cognitive impairment screening, but it is by no means the only tool available for digital users. For example, another currently available tool, the BrainCheck assessment app, takes 15 minutes and also offers a cognition score.
