Cognitive assessment and dementia severity in older adults from a geriatrics clinic in Brunei

Background: Dementia is a growing health concern in Brunei.Cognitive testing is essential for evaluating older adults with suspected cognitive impairment.The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) are commonly used tools but have not been locally validated.This study describes patients undergoing cognitive testing in geriatric clinics in Brunei and examines the relationship between cognitive test scores and dementia severity.Methods: Retrospective review of patients attending the Geriatrics Clinic who underwent cognitive testing between 1 January, 2022 and 30 June, 2024.Extracted data included demographics, dementia subtype, cognitive test scores, and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR).Descriptive statistics summarised patient characteristics, and Spearman's rank correlation assessed associations between cognitive scores and dementia severity.Results: A total of 144 patients were included (median age 79 years; 54.9% female).The most common diagnoses were Alzheimer's disease (32.6%), vascular dementia (24.3%), mixed dementia (20.8%), and mild cognitive impairment (14.6%).After excluding incomplete data, 44 MoCA and 63 RUDAS assessments were analysed.Both tests correlated negatively with dementia severity (MoCA: ρ = -0.38,p = 0.012; RUDAS: ρ = -0.42,p < 0.001).Conclusions: MoCA and RUDAS scores were moderately associated with dementia severity in this geriatric cohort, supporting their clinical utility in Brunei pending formal validation.