Bottom Line: A screening test used in a cognitive evaluation of President Donald Trump received considerable public attention after it was announced earlier this year. A new study identified online news articles discussing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (the "MoCA") in association with President Trump and internet search trends during the days immediately following his medical assessment. Approximately half of all news articles embedded or hyperlinked to all or parts of the questionnaire, while 1 in 6 articles directly invited readers to take the test. What, if anything, will result from public sharing of a version of the test isn't clear, however, researchers caution clinicians to be aware of patients' potential prior exposure to the test and temporarily consider the use of alternate versions of the MoCA questionnaire until further study is completed on the impact of this diffusion to the public.
Authors: Hourmazd Haghbayan, M.D., of the University of Toronto, Canada, and coauthors
To Learn More: The full study is available on the For The Media website.
(doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.1777)
Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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Journal
JAMA Neurology