Background: and Purpose: Empathy comprises cognitive and emotional components.However, the impairments in empathy among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT) are not well understood, particularly in the context of depression, which may exacerbate these deficits. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neurodegeneration and depression on empathetic abilities. Methods: The study included 31 healthy elderly (HE) individuals, 30 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI (amMCI), and 30 patients with DAT. Empathy was assessed using the Korean-Multifaceted Empathy Test (K-MET), and the Interpersonal Response Index (IRI).Participants were classified as depressed or non-depressed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in empathy based on group and depressive status. Results: A significant interaction between group and depressive status was found for both cognitive and emotional empathy on the K-MET, but not on the IRI. In the depressed group, cognitive empathy scores were lower in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Similarly, in the non-depressed group, the HE group performed better than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between the latter two. Regarding emotional empathy, the depressed HE group scored higher than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between these groups. In the non-depressed group, emotional empathy declined in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Conclusions These findings indicate that both neurodegeneration and depression significantly impair empathetic abilities, with declines in cognitive and emotional empathy evident at the MCI stage, regardless of depressive status.

Background: and Purpose: Empathy comprises cognitive and emotional components.However, the impairments in empathy among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT) are not well understood, particularly in the context of depression, which may exacerbate these deficits. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neurodegeneration and depression on empathetic abilities. Methods: The study included 31 healthy elderly (HE) individuals, 30 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI (amMCI), and 30 patients with DAT. Empathy was assessed using the Korean-Multifaceted Empathy Test (K-MET), and the Interpersonal Response Index (IRI).Participants were classified as depressed or non-depressed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in empathy based on group and depressive status. Results: A significant interaction between group and depressive status was found for both cognitive and emotional empathy on the K-MET, but not on the IRI. In the depressed group, cognitive empathy scores were lower in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Similarly, in the non-depressed group, the HE group performed better than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between the latter two. Regarding emotional empathy, the depressed HE group scored higher than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between these groups. In the non-depressed group, emotional empathy declined in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Conclusions These findings indicate that both neurodegeneration and depression significantly impair empathetic abilities, with declines in cognitive and emotional empathy evident at the MCI stage, regardless of depressive status.

Background: and Purpose: Empathy comprises cognitive and emotional components.However, the impairments in empathy among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT) are not well understood, particularly in the context of depression, which may exacerbate these deficits. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neurodegeneration and depression on empathetic abilities. Methods: The study included 31 healthy elderly (HE) individuals, 30 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI (amMCI), and 30 patients with DAT. Empathy was assessed using the Korean-Multifaceted Empathy Test (K-MET), and the Interpersonal Response Index (IRI).Participants were classified as depressed or non-depressed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in empathy based on group and depressive status. Results: A significant interaction between group and depressive status was found for both cognitive and emotional empathy on the K-MET, but not on the IRI. In the depressed group, cognitive empathy scores were lower in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Similarly, in the non-depressed group, the HE group performed better than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between the latter two. Regarding emotional empathy, the depressed HE group scored higher than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between these groups. In the non-depressed group, emotional empathy declined in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Conclusions These findings indicate that both neurodegeneration and depression significantly impair empathetic abilities, with declines in cognitive and emotional empathy evident at the MCI stage, regardless of depressive status.

Background: and Purpose: Empathy comprises cognitive and emotional components.However, the impairments in empathy among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (DAT) are not well understood, particularly in the context of depression, which may exacerbate these deficits. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of neurodegeneration and depression on empathetic abilities. Methods: The study included 31 healthy elderly (HE) individuals, 30 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI (amMCI), and 30 patients with DAT. Empathy was assessed using the Korean-Multifaceted Empathy Test (K-MET), and the Interpersonal Response Index (IRI).Participants were classified as depressed or non-depressed using the Geriatric Depression Scale. A two-way MANOVA was conducted to examine differences in empathy based on group and depressive status. Results: A significant interaction between group and depressive status was found for both cognitive and emotional empathy on the K-MET, but not on the IRI. In the depressed group, cognitive empathy scores were lower in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Similarly, in the non-depressed group, the HE group performed better than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between the latter two. Regarding emotional empathy, the depressed HE group scored higher than both amMCI and DAT, with no significant difference between these groups. In the non-depressed group, emotional empathy declined in the order of HE, amMCI, and DAT. Conclusions These findings indicate that both neurodegeneration and depression significantly impair empathetic abilities, with declines in cognitive and emotional empathy evident at the MCI stage, regardless of depressive status.

Background: and Purpose: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the Telephone-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) has gained popularity as a remote cognitive screening tool. T-MoCA includes items from the original MoCA (MoCA-30), excluding those requiring visual stimuli, resulting in a maximum score of 22 points.This study aimed to assess whether the T-MoCA items (MoCA-22) demonstrate comparable discriminatory power to MoCA-30 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in screening for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Methods: Participants included 233 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, 175 with MCI, and 166 with dementia. All completed the Korean-MoCA-30 (K-MoCA-30) and Korean-MMSE (K-MMSE), with the Korean-MoCA-22 (K-MoCA-22) scores derived from the K-MoCA-30 responses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. Results: K-MoCA-22 showed a strong correlation with K-MoCA-30 and a moderate correlation with K-MMSE. Scores decreased progressively from CN to MCI and dementia, with significant differences between groups, consistent with K-MoCA-30 and K-MMSE. The study also explored modified K-MoCA-22 index scores across 5 cognitive domains. ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) for K-MoCA-22 was significantly smaller than that for K-MoCA-30 in distinguishing both MCI and dementia from CN. However, no significant difference in AUC was found between K-MoCA-22 and K-MMSE, indicating similar discriminatory power. Additionally, the discriminability of K-MoCA-22 varied by education level. Conclusions These results indicate that K-MoCA-22, although slightly less effective than K-MoCA-30, still shows good to excellent discriminatory power and is comparable to K-MMSE in screening for MCI and dementia.

Background: and Purpose: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the Telephone-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) has gained popularity as a remote cognitive screening tool. T-MoCA includes items from the original MoCA (MoCA-30), excluding those requiring visual stimuli, resulting in a maximum score of 22 points.This study aimed to assess whether the T-MoCA items (MoCA-22) demonstrate comparable discriminatory power to MoCA-30 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in screening for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Methods: Participants included 233 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, 175 with MCI, and 166 with dementia. All completed the Korean-MoCA-30 (K-MoCA-30) and Korean-MMSE (K-MMSE), with the Korean-MoCA-22 (K-MoCA-22) scores derived from the K-MoCA-30 responses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. Results: K-MoCA-22 showed a strong correlation with K-MoCA-30 and a moderate correlation with K-MMSE. Scores decreased progressively from CN to MCI and dementia, with significant differences between groups, consistent with K-MoCA-30 and K-MMSE. The study also explored modified K-MoCA-22 index scores across 5 cognitive domains. ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) for K-MoCA-22 was significantly smaller than that for K-MoCA-30 in distinguishing both MCI and dementia from CN. However, no significant difference in AUC was found between K-MoCA-22 and K-MMSE, indicating similar discriminatory power. Additionally, the discriminability of K-MoCA-22 varied by education level. Conclusions These results indicate that K-MoCA-22, although slightly less effective than K-MoCA-30, still shows good to excellent discriminatory power and is comparable to K-MMSE in screening for MCI and dementia.

Background: and Purpose: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the Telephone-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) has gained popularity as a remote cognitive screening tool. T-MoCA includes items from the original MoCA (MoCA-30), excluding those requiring visual stimuli, resulting in a maximum score of 22 points.This study aimed to assess whether the T-MoCA items (MoCA-22) demonstrate comparable discriminatory power to MoCA-30 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in screening for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Methods: Participants included 233 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, 175 with MCI, and 166 with dementia. All completed the Korean-MoCA-30 (K-MoCA-30) and Korean-MMSE (K-MMSE), with the Korean-MoCA-22 (K-MoCA-22) scores derived from the K-MoCA-30 responses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. Results: K-MoCA-22 showed a strong correlation with K-MoCA-30 and a moderate correlation with K-MMSE. Scores decreased progressively from CN to MCI and dementia, with significant differences between groups, consistent with K-MoCA-30 and K-MMSE. The study also explored modified K-MoCA-22 index scores across 5 cognitive domains. ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) for K-MoCA-22 was significantly smaller than that for K-MoCA-30 in distinguishing both MCI and dementia from CN. However, no significant difference in AUC was found between K-MoCA-22 and K-MMSE, indicating similar discriminatory power. Additionally, the discriminability of K-MoCA-22 varied by education level. Conclusions These results indicate that K-MoCA-22, although slightly less effective than K-MoCA-30, still shows good to excellent discriminatory power and is comparable to K-MMSE in screening for MCI and dementia.

Background: and Purpose: Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the Telephone-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA) has gained popularity as a remote cognitive screening tool. T-MoCA includes items from the original MoCA (MoCA-30), excluding those requiring visual stimuli, resulting in a maximum score of 22 points.This study aimed to assess whether the T-MoCA items (MoCA-22) demonstrate comparable discriminatory power to MoCA-30 and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in screening for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Methods: Participants included 233 cognitively normal (CN) individuals, 175 with MCI, and 166 with dementia. All completed the Korean-MoCA-30 (K-MoCA-30) and Korean-MMSE (K-MMSE), with the Korean-MoCA-22 (K-MoCA-22) scores derived from the K-MoCA-30 responses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted. Results: K-MoCA-22 showed a strong correlation with K-MoCA-30 and a moderate correlation with K-MMSE. Scores decreased progressively from CN to MCI and dementia, with significant differences between groups, consistent with K-MoCA-30 and K-MMSE. The study also explored modified K-MoCA-22 index scores across 5 cognitive domains. ROC curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve (AUC) for K-MoCA-22 was significantly smaller than that for K-MoCA-30 in distinguishing both MCI and dementia from CN. However, no significant difference in AUC was found between K-MoCA-22 and K-MMSE, indicating similar discriminatory power. Additionally, the discriminability of K-MoCA-22 varied by education level. Conclusions These results indicate that K-MoCA-22, although slightly less effective than K-MoCA-30, still shows good to excellent discriminatory power and is comparable to K-MMSE in screening for MCI and dementia.

Background: and Purpose: The Korean-Mini Mental State Examination, 2nd edition (K-MMSE~2) was recently released. This study aimed to determine whether the K-MMSE~2:Standard Version (K-MMSE~2:SV) had the same test characteristics as the K-MMSE. Methods: A total of 1,514 healthy community-based participants aged 19 to 90 years were administered the K-MMSE~2:SV Blue Form along with the language items from the K-MMSE.The item and test characteristics and test information for the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE were compared using Item Response Theory analysis. Results: Item discriminations for the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE were above the moderate range for all items except Recall. Most of the items on the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE had item category difficulty in the very easy or easy range. The test information curve (TIC) showed that the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE provide almost the same amount of information (27.86 vs. 28.44), with both tests providing the most information at an ability level of −1.57.The generalizability (G) coefficient for the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE was 0.99. Conclusions These results indicate that the K-MMSE~2:SV and K-MMSE are equally optimal tests for screening for mild cognitive impairment and early dementia. Given that the amount of test information provided by the two tests was almost identical, the shapes of the TICs were very similar, and the G coefficient was close to 1, we can conclude that the K-MMSE and K-MMSE~2:SV are equivalent tests.

Background: Evaluating the activities of daily living (ADL) is an important factor for diagnosing dementia. The Everyday Cognition (ECog) scale was developed to measure ADL changes that were correlated with specific neuropsychological impairments. A short form of the ECog (ECog-12) was also developed, consisting of 12 items, two from each of the six cognitive domains of the ECog. The Korean full version of ECog (K-ECog) has recently been standardized, but the need for a shortened version has been raised in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to develop a Korean version of ECog-12 (K-ECog-12) and to verify its reliability and validity by comparing those to the full version of K-ECog. Methods: The participants were 267 cognitively normal older adults (CN), 183 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 89 patients with dementia. The Korean-Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), Korean-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (K-MoCA), and Short form of Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS) were administered to all participants. The K-ECog and Korean-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (K-IADL) were rated by the informants of patients. Results: K-ECog-12 was newly constructed by replacing one item for the visuospatial function in the original ECog-12 with another one through an item response theory analysis on Korean data. The internal consistencies (Cronbach’s α) of K-ECog-12 and K-ECog were 0.95 and 0.99, respectively. The test–retest reliabilities (Pearson’s r) were 0.67 for K-ECog-12 and 0.73 for K-ECog. The K-ECog-12 was significantly correlated with K-ECog as well as K-IADL, K-MMSE, and K-MoCA. The K-ECog-12 scores differed significantly between the CN, MCI, and dementia groups, as did the K-ECog scores. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses showed that K-ECog-12, like K-ECog, could differentiate MCI and dementia patients from CN as well. Conclusion The K-ECog-12 is as reliable and valid as the K-ECog in assessing ADL.Therefore, K-ECog-12 can be used as an alternative to the K-ECog in clinical and community settings in Korea.