TRANSLATION, CULTURALADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF GUJARATI VERSION OF MONTREAL COGNITIVE ASSESSMENT (MOCA) IN OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

Context: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a term used to describe a level of decline in cognition which is seen as an intermediate stage between normal ageing and dementia in older adults. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a useful screening tool validated for MCI. It has been translated in various languages other than English, including various Indian languages such as Hindi, Malayalam, etc. Aims: For the cognitive screening of Gujarati speaking older adults, the Gujarati version of MoCA is required. The present study, therefore, aimed to develop Gujarati version of the MoCA and investigate its validity and reliability for screening MCI in gujarati speaking older adults. Settings and Design: It is a cross sectional study design. The scale was translated in Gujarati as per suggested guidelines and its psychometric properties were evaluated. Qualitative and quantitative validation through expert review was done and content validity Index (CVI) was calculated. Study participants were 30 older adults. Two estimators of reliability i.e., internal consistency reliability and test retest reliability were evaluated. Statistical analysis and results: The content validity was established through qualitative reviews and with I-CVI of each item on scale more than or equal to 0.78 and SCVI/Ave = 0.93. The scale has good internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha (α) =0.74 and high test-retest reliability, intra class correlation coefcient (ICC) =0.87. Conclusions:The Gujarati translated version of MoCAis a valid and reliable tool for detecting mild cognitive impairment in older adults.