Association of mild cognitive impairment with incidence of falls in communities aged 55 and over / 中华疾病控制杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the association between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the risk of falls in community populations, so as to provide a reference for preventing falls in the elderly. Methods 826 community residents aged 55 years and older were enrolled in Wuzhong, Ningxia; cognitive function was assessed during the participants attending the basic public health examination, and self-report falling events were observed through telephone call survey after half a year. The incidence of falls among different populations was compared using unconditional Logistic regression model. Results A total of 521 participants completed the follow-up study, and 127 of them met criteria of MCI at baseline. 32 participants reported falling occurred during follow-up with a incidence of 6.1% (32/521), and the incidence of falls was higher (8.85%,23/260) in females than that of males (3.45%,9/261) (RR=2.56, P=0.010). The incidence among MCI group (9.45%,12/127) was 1.86 times of that among non-MCI group (RR=1.86, P=0.073). Under the controlling of demographic variables (gender, age and education level), there was no association between MCI and falls (RR=1.41, P=0.382). Conclusions The incidence of falls in the elderly communities is common, and females has higher risk of falls than males. There is no statistical association between MCI and risk of falls. Further validation is needed with large-sample studies in the future.