person with MCI has become increasingly clumsy?

@rutgersmom123 Welcome to MayoClinicConnect ! I’m glad you found this site to get some answers. But first, some questions. How long has this person had MCI? Have they always been clumsy? Is this the only change in behavior?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers-dementia/. While you wait for other members to see your question, you might want to read some other discussions in this support group.

I don't know whether I would consider my husband diagnosed with MCI as clumsy. I never looked at it that way. I know he is forgetful, has difficulty following any set of sequencing instructions. Sometimes appears confused - which can appear clumsy especially when he starts dropping things - when I ask him to do something. I do know from what I've read, that someone with MCI can seem clumsy because of the changes in the brain that affect, balance, movement and how they judge space or distance. And that although MCI is mostly knows for memory and thinking slips, motor and spatial skills can also be involved. They have trouble judging distances, why my husband last night hit his head on the cooktop vent. With his attention and focus, I do see he is easily distracted, often dropping things.
Hope this helps. Best, Karla

My husband was diagnosed with MCI over a year ago, but myself and family members could see signs earlier . His memory has been affected and continues to slowly get worse. As per the clumsiness, I feel like over the last couple of years he is always dropping things or spilling stuff. His movement has also changed ie; his gait. I believe your statement about judgement with space and distance . Thank you for your reply.

@rutgersmom123 Yes my husband was diagnosed in August of 2025. And I could see the same signs you saw earlier than that. We were hacked into on his PC in 2025, and I suspect that's because he gets confused, and just starts clicking away. It's all so worrisome, especially with the driving, where they're still independent but the judgement, space, distance, thing is different for them. And I worry constantly, over what he's doing on the PC.....My best, PS, I think I remember my son, when he was young going to a summer camp at Rutgers.....
He was all over the place in sports.......Karla

At testing the psychologist noted spatial awareness issues.

@kjc48
During the psychological testing my husband was noted to have spatial awareness issues. Yet at the time he scored off the charts, as I knew he would. One thing though is that he showed how he speaks to me (these days) and the psychologist told him he needed to learn how to speak to people (me) better. * He never spoke to me like that until this diagnosis. This was the first major behavioral change I noticed. He has what I’d consider OCD but it isn’t crippling. Suddenly he had me buy coffee cups that were all the same ( like one might find at a hotel) and he would not eat off of anything square (as I’ve noticed are often used in Asian restaurants). To keep down the complaining I ordered the coffee cups. He found something wrong with them.
Then, I am a gardener. It is my hobby. Something in my garden was “bugging” him. So he took my very sharp hand shears without telling me, went out there to “take care of it” and amputated the end of his finger (accidentally). ( I was gone at the time to get a haircut) I think this was a spatial thing. I came home, saw his bandage and asked what happened. He drove himself to the nearby ER and had himself treated, thank goodness. I followed up with the ER doc.
I’ve locked the shears away and he can’t get to them.
Otherwise, he is very functional. It is all beyond weird to me. His MRI says he has issues but being so functional is what is scary. Never know what may happen.

@kmliste

I apologize . my previous comment was to go to @rutgersmom123
I am very tired.

@kmliste thanks for your share. I can relate. I don't have a problem YET with the way my husband talks to me, but I do know that if we gave a heated exchange, and try to get him to leave his backpack at home, etc. he'll push me away, or on occasion, throw something on the floor unlike anything he's ever did before. I'm glad you locked the shears away, yes, we never know from one day to the next. As for the coffee cups, I have seen my husband with his plate of food. A year before the MCI diagnosis I knew something was wrong; he'd take the plate, circle it around, turn it again, and again and again, like he's trying to position it. Then when he eats, it's this precision cutting every piece, everything in order, nothing picked up with his hands, etc, Its weird to watch because he never did any of that before. Also, his palate is pickier. God forbid there's one piece of fat or grisel in the spareribs. My husband is functional too, and then there are days, of just not remembering what we talked about earlier, etc. or just doing "weird" things. While navigating through this, there have been a few times, when he got "ugly" with me. And that's when I told him, if he continued to talk to me like that, I was going to bash his head in. Now, I know that's probably not the nicest, most considerate thing to say, but it worked. He stopped short, and I haven't had "ugly" issues with him anymore. Your husband talking nasty to you, could be because he's frustrated, like an angry child acting out. Who knows. I agree, the behaviors are wild on any given day. Good luck, as we plow through this together. Best, Karla