Gait, dual task and history of falls in elderly with preserved cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and mild Alzheimer's disease.

The study compared groups at the same assessment and asked about falls in the last year, so it cannot show that cognitive impairment caused falls or that a dual-task test prevents falls. Participants had to walk 10 meters alone without a walking aid, so results do not apply to older adults who use a cane, walker or cannot walk that far. The groups were not matched: mild Alzheimer's participants were up to four years older than preserved-cognition participants, and mild cognitive impairment included 34 women compared with 24 and 22 women in the other groups. The paper did not restrict mild cognitive impairment to a subtype, and familiarity with the phone model was not controlled. Each test was performed once, so single-trial performance may vary. The fall history was retrospective, which may be less accurate in people with cognitive impairment.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not read the dual-task result as a way to identify mild cognitive impairment. No dual-task variable separated preserved cognition from mild cognitive impairment, and the study did not show that cognitive impairment caused the higher percentage of fallers.