Abstract: Objective To investigate the correlation between serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio and physical performance in the community elderly. Methods A total of 203 cases of elderly people who underwent physical examination in the community were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. All the elderly underwent the assessment of short physical performance battery(SPPB) scale, and they were divided into poor physical function group(0-9 points) and good physical function group(10-12 points) based on the SPPB score. The general data were compared between the two groups. Spearman correlation analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship between serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio and physical performance. Results The levels of age, 5-time chair stand test, hemoglobin, bilirubin, urea nitrogen and cystatin C were higher, and the levels of grip strength, pace, appendicular skeletal muscle index(ASMI)score, vitamin D, serum creatinine/cystatin C ratio and ifree triiodothyronine were significantly lower in poor physical performance group than those in good physical performance group(all P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed significant relationship of serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio with grip strength, pace, ASMI and SPPB score. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that serum creatinine/cystatin C ratio was the independent influencing factor of physical performance. Conclusions Serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio is strongly associated with decreased physical performance in the community elderly. It may serve as a simple serological indicator for identifying the decline in physical performance.

Key words: aged, serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio, Short Physical Performance Battery, physical performance