Poor sleep quality may be associated with incidental, but not prevalent, motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR). Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome (MCR) is a predementia condition that combines two early indicators of dementia: slow walking speed and subjective memory complaints.

Results of the new study were published online November 6 in the journal ‘Neurology’. Victoire Leroy, M.D., Ph.D., from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, and colleagues examined the association of sleep disturbances with incident and prevalent MCR in older adults.

MCR was defined as cognitive complaints reported on standardised questionnaires and slow gait speed as recorded on an electronic treadmill. The 445 participants were categorised as good or poor sleepers based on an estimated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) cut score, reported the ‘Medical Xpress’.

The researchers found that 36 of the 403 participants without MCR at baseline developed incident MCR during a mean follow-up of 2.9 years.

The risk for incident MCR was higher for poor sleepers than good sleepers (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.6; 95 per cent confidence interval, 0.7 to 3.4). Of the seven components of the PSQI, only sleep-related daytime dysfunction (excessive sleepiness and lower enthusiasm) was significantly associated with MCR in fully adjusted models (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.3; 95 per cent confidence interval, 1.5 to 7.4).