Volume 28, Issue 8 pp. 2565-2573
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Physical and cognitive profiles in motoric cognitive risk syndrome in an older population from Southern Italy

Ilaria Bortone

Corresponding Author

Ilaria Bortone

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Correspondence

Ilaria Bortone and Francesco Panza, Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study”, National Institute of Gastroenterology "Saverio de Bellis" Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy.

Emails: [email protected] (IB); [email protected]; [email protected] (FP)

Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Formal analysis (supporting), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Validation (equal), Writing - original draft (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead)

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Chiara Griseta

Chiara Griseta

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Conceptualization (supporting), Data curation (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Petronilla Battista

Petronilla Battista

Global Brain Health Institute, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Data curation (lead), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Fabio Castellana

Fabio Castellana

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Data curation (supporting), Formal analysis (lead), ​Investigation (supporting), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Luisa Lampignano

Luisa Lampignano

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Data curation (equal), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Roberta Zupo

Roberta Zupo

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Data curation (equal), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Giancarlo Sborgia

Giancarlo Sborgia

Eye Clinic, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico di Bari, Bari, Italy

Contribution: ​Investigation (supporting), Writing - original draft (supporting), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Madia Lozupone

Madia Lozupone

Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro,”, Bari, Italy

Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Biagio Moretti

Biagio Moretti

Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari “Aldo Moro,”, Bari, Italy

Contribution: Supervision (equal), Writing - review & editing (supporting)

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Gianluigi Giannelli

Gianluigi Giannelli

National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Resources (lead)

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Rodolfo Sardone

Rodolfo Sardone

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Formal analysis (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Francesco Panza

Corresponding Author

Francesco Panza

Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study,”, National Institute of Gastroenterology “Saverio de Bellis,” Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Correspondence

Ilaria Bortone and Francesco Panza, Unit of Research Methodology and Data Sciences for Population Health, “Salus in Apulia Study”, National Institute of Gastroenterology "Saverio de Bellis" Research Hospital, Castellana Grotte, Bari, Italy.

Emails: [email protected] (IB); [email protected]; [email protected] (FP)

Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Methodology (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (lead)

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First published: 26 April 2021
Citations: 19

Funding information

This study was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, under the Aging Network of Italian Research Hospitals.

Abstract

Background and purpose

In older age, physical and cognitive declines have been shown to occur simultaneously or consequent to one another, and several operational definitions have been proposed to consider the co-presence of the two declines; for example, “Motoric cognitive risk syndrome” (MCR) has been proposed as a definition for the coexistence of slow gait plus subjective cognitive complaints. Given the increasing interest in MCR and its potential role as both biomarker and therapeutic target, we aimed to estimate its prevalence in a large cohort of non-demented older subjects, and to examine the associations between physical status, global cognitive dysfunction, and impairment in various cognitive domains in MCR.

Methods

A population-based sample of 1041 older people in Southern Italy (mean age 75.15 years) was enrolled. We defined MCR using slowness and a single question for subjective cognitive complaints. We also administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery, together with tests assessing physical function.

Results

The prevalence of MCR was 9.9% (95% confidence interval 8.2–11.9). MCR was associated with decreased processing speed and executive function after adjusting for all relevant confounders. However, we found no significant association of MCR with decreased global cognition and immediate/delayed free recall of verbal memory. MCR was also associated with increased exhaustion, low muscle strength, and low physical activity, and increased levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.

Conclusions

The present findings on MCR prevalence and associated cognitive and physical domains and inflammatory biomarkers may help to uncover altered pathways and therapeutic targets for intervention during the long preclinical phase of neurodegenerative dementia.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

None declared.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data are available on request from the corresponding author.

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