Impacts of education level on Montreal Cognitive Assessment and saccades in community residents from Western China

Abstract

Objectives: This cross-sectional study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and saccade in discerning the cognitive function levels among community populations characterized by diverse educational backgrounds.

Methods: Data from 665 Western China individuals encompassed MoCA scores and saccade performance. The study examined how education level and age influenced these assessments and highlighted the contrasting abilities of these measures in detecting cognitive abnormalities.

Results: The saccade model revealed a consistent cognitive impairment prevalence (15.5%) compared to previous clinical data (9.7% to 23.3%), while MoCA exhibited variable rates (25.1% to 52.8%). Notably, saccades and MoCA significantly diverged in detecting cognitive dysfunction. Additionally, education level had a greater impact on MoCA (effect size: 0.272) compared to saccades (0.024) affecting all MoCA sub-items, with age exerting a smaller influence on MoCA (0.037) compared to saccades (0.056).

Conclusion: Saccades are less susceptible to the influence of education level when compared to MoCA, making saccade a potentially more suitable cognitive screening tool for rural community populations.

Significance: This study represents a pioneering approach by employing saccade detection within community populations to distinguish cognitive function status.

Keywords: Education level; Eye movement; MoCA; Montreal Cognitive Assessment; Saccade.