Association between motoric cognitive risk syndrome and future falls among Chinese community‐dwelling elderly: A nationwide cohort study

BACKGROUND: Motoric Cognitive Risk syndrome (MCR), known as the predementia stage, is characterized by both subjective cognitive complaint (SCC) and slow gait. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between MCR, its components, and falls. METHODS: Participants aged ≥ 60 years were selected from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. SCC was determined by participants' responses to the question “How would you rate your memory at present?” with “poor” being the indicative answer. Slow gait was defined as one standard deviation or more below age‐ and gender‐appropriate mean values of gait speed. MCR was identified when both SCC and slow gait were presented. Future falls were investigated by the question “have you fallen down during follow‐up until wave 4 in 2018?” Logistic regression analysis was performed to test the longitudinal association of MCR, its components and future falls during the following 3 years. RESULTS: Of 3748 samples in this study, the prevalence of MCR, SCC, and slow gait was 5.92%, 33.06%, and 15.21%, respectively. MCR increased the risk of falls during the following 3 years by 66.7% compared to non‐MCR after controlling for covariates. In the fully adjusted models, with the healthy group as reference, MCR (OR = 1.519, 95%CI = 1.086–2.126) and SCC (OR = 1.241, 95%CI = 1.018–1.513), but not slow gait, increased the risk of future falls. CONCLUSIONS: MCR independently predicts future falls risk in the following 3 years. Measuring MCR can be a pragmatic tool for early identification of falls risk.