Assessment
Boston Cognitive Assessment (BoCA™) is a scientifically validated, self-administered digital cognitive assessment designed for clinical, research, and personal use.
Complete in under 10 minutes, BoCA™ evaluates cognitive performance across eight domains using randomized, non-repeating tasks—minimizing practice effects and supporting reliable longitudinal tracking. As an online, automatically scored tool, BoCA™ is used by researchers for serial assessment of global cognition in clinical trials studying Alzheimer's, COVID fog, anesthesia, and cancer treatment.
Validation
BoCA™ has been validated in multiple studies. In one study, participants with cognitive disorders scored significantly lower in both the BoCA™ and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Test for Dementia compared to normal controls. In another study, participants with cognitive disorders scored significantly lower in both the BoCA™ and Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) compared to normal controls. Analyses revealed strong correlation between BoCA™ and MoCA (r = 0.85, p < 0.01) and strong correlation with the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (r=0.80, p < 0.01). BoCA™ showed strong test-retest reliability of the total BoCA™ score one week after participants' initial administration (r=0.89, p< 0.001).
- Vyshedskiy, A., et al. Boston cognitive assessment (BoCA™) — a comprehensive self-administered smartphone- and computer-based at-home test for longitudinal tracking of cognitive performance. BMC Neurol 22, 92 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02620-6
- Gold, D., et al. "The Boston cognitive assessment: Psychometric foundations of a self-administered measure of global cognition." The Clinical Neuropsychologist (2021): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2021.1933190
- Ferguson, H., et al. "Preliminary Analysis of the Influence of Age and Education on the Boston Cognitive Assessment (BoCA™)." Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 37 (6) 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/acac060.303
What It Measures
BoCA™ evaluates eight key cognitive domains using scientifically validated tasks. The total maximum score is 30. Higher scores indicate better cognitive performance.
- Memory: Immediate and delayed recall of verbal and visual information
- Attention: Sustained, selective, and divided attention tasks
- Language: Naming, comprehension, and verbal fluency
- Executive Function: Planning, set-shifting, and problem-solving
- Mental Math: Arithmetic reasoning and calculation
- Visuospatial Skills: Spatial perception and constructional praxis
- Orientation: Temporal and spatial orientation
- Recall: Delayed retrieval of previously presented information
BoCA is suitable for serial assessment in clinical, research, and individual use, supporting early detection and ongoing monitoring of cognitive change.
Individuals
BoCA™ empowers you to monitor your cognitive health over time. Many treatable conditions—such as sleep disorders, mood problems, heavy metal accumulation, and lack of movement or social interaction—can affect memory and thinking. Longitudinal monitoring of cognitive health can help you assess if an underlying condition is causing cognitive decline and guide timely therapeutic interventions. The assessment is self-administered, device-agnostic, and provides instant results with age- and gender-matched normative comparisons. All data is private and secure.
Healthcare Providers
Many health care providers administering cognitive testing are using the MoCA or MMSE but are not getting paid for their work. BoCA™ provides rapid, mobile cognitive assessments and personalized cognitive care planning that are reimbursable. Clinical practices can use BoCA™ and get reimbursed for CPT 96138, CPT 96132, and CPT 99483 for cognitive assessment administration and interpretation. Practices may also consider CPT 96116 as an alternative telehealth CPT code for cognitive testing. The BoCA™ test, combined with a few additional questions, can meet the requirements for CPT 96116.
Many treatable conditions—such as sleep disorders, mood problems, heavy metal accumulation, and lack of movement or social interaction—can affect memory and thinking. Longitudinal monitoring of cognitive health can help clinicians assess if an underlying condition is causing cognitive decline and guide timely therapeutic interventions.
Researchers
Longitudinal monitoring is essential for testing novel interventions designed to reduce or reverse cognitive aging. BoCA™ is an invaluable tool for long-term cognitive monitoring. As an online instrument, BoCA™ evaluates global cognition through tasks spanning eight domains commonly included in other familiar screening instruments (e.g., wordlist learning and delayed recall, repeating numerical sequences forward and backward, executive functioning, mental arithmetic, visuospatial reasoning, language, and orientation).
BoCA™ uses randomly generated, non-repeating stimuli when assessing each domain, enhancing its utility for serial assessment and long-term monitoring of cognitive status. It is automatically scored and designed to reduce the risks of practice effects, making it especially beneficial for research projects requiring cognitive tracking.
BoCA™ is currently utilized in dozens of clinical trials studying the effects of cognitive interventions, pharmaceutical treatments for Alzheimer's disease, COVID fog, anesthesia and preoperative treatment, long-term effects of cancer drugs, and other interventional studies of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
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