Measuring Life‐Space Mobility in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults

Baker, Patricia Sawyer; Bodner, Eric; Allman, Richard M.

doi:10.1046/j.1532-5415.2003.51512.x

Cited by 768 publications

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“…The actual mobility of a person moving around in his or her environment can be described with the concept of lifespace mobility, that is, the spatial area a person purposely moves through in daily life within a specific time, also taking into account the need for assistance to accomplish that movement (Baker, Bodner & Allman 2003). Life-space mobility thus represents the actual movement, in its broadest sense, of a person in his/her daily life, and thus includes walking, driving and using public or other forms of transportation.…”

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Life-space mobility is a multidimensional concept, combining the area in which one moves, the frequency of movement in that area during the past four weeks and potential assistance needed to accomplish it (Baker, Bodner & Allman 2003). At its smallest, a person's life-space is his or her bed.…”

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Life-space mobility also takes into account the frequency of moving on different life-space levels: daily, weekly or less. By combining information about the area in which one moves, the frequency of movement and the assistance required, it is possible to measure a person's overall mobility in his or her environment (Baker, Bodner & Allman 2003).…”

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have used The University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Life-Space Assessment when assessing life-space mobility (Baker, Bodner & Allman 2003). Some studies have used Life Space Questionnaire (Barnes et al 2007, Stalvey et al 1999).…”

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The neighborhood is often highly important for older people, who often carry out most of their daily activities in the proximity of the home, where also most of their physical activity takes place (Yen, Michael & Perdue 2009). The environment includes the entire life-space of older people -home, its immediate surroundings, neighborhood and town -all the areas in which older people's daily activities take place (Baker, Bodner & Allman 2003). The importance of personal and environmental resources in shaping physical activity and functioning in old age has been acknowledged (Satariano & McAuley 2003, Wahl, Iwarsson & Oswald 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Barriers to outdoor physical activity and unmet physical activity need in older adults

Eronen

Bonsdorff

Törmäkangas

et al. 2014

Preventive Medicine

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Physical activity is a basic need, also in old age. However, many older people cannot fulfil this need, often due to walking limitations causing imbalance in person-environment fit. Decreased physical activity can lead to unmet physical activity need and restriction on life-space mobility. The opportunities to remain physically active depend on various factors, not all of which are equally achievable for all older adults. The aim was to investigate disparities in physical activity among older community-dwelling people, with a focus on functioning, environmental barriers and facilitators, and socioeconomic status (SES).The data were drawn from two studies conducted in Central Finland: Screening and Counseling for Physical Activity and Mobility (632 participants, 75% women, mean age 77.6) and Life-Space Mobility in Old Age (848 participants, 62% women, mean age 80.1). Walking limitations, SES, social support, environmental facilitators for outdoor walking and barriers to outdoor physical activity were self-reported. The outcome measures were unmet physical activity need, walking limitation and life-space mobility.Five outdoor physical activity barrier profiles were identified, in which people differed in health and functioning and vulnerability to the challenges of the environment. A higher number of environmental facilitators decreased the risk for walking limitation. The risk for unmet physical activity need increased along with the number of individual and environmental outdoor physical activity barriers, but was highest among people whose poor health and functioning hindered them from going outdoors. Low SES was associated with more restricted life-space mobility and unmet physical activity need, especially among persons with walking limitations.Disparities in physical activity can be traced back to various individual, social and environmental factors. The importance of the environment for physical activity is considerable especially among older people with walking limitations. Keywords ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis study was carried out at the Gerontology Research Center, Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. My deepest gratitude goes to the supervisors of this thesis, Professor Taina Rantanen and Mikaela von Bonsdorff, PhD. Taina, I can't stop wondering how you always have solutions to the most complex problems and answers to even the trickiest questions. I highly value your knowledge and experience in the field of gerontology and feel proud that I have been able to conduct my PhD thesis under your supervision. Mikaela, thank you for always having time for me and my questions, especially during the first year of my PhD studies. I admire your enthusiasm towards research and appreciate the guidance and advice that you have given me. I feel that we have become friends during these years. I sincerely thank Professor Teppo Kröger for his interest and supportive comments on this work. I also want to thank Research Director Katja Kokko at the Gerontology Research Center, and Director of t...

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Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life-space Mobilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Barriers to outdoor physical activity and unmet physical activity need in older adults

Eronen

Bonsdorff

Törmäkangas

et al. 2014

Preventive Medicine

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Mobility Limitation in the Older Patient

Brown¹,

Flood²

2013

JAMA

236

158

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Comparison of Posthospitalization Function and Community Mobility in Hospital Mobility Program and Usual Care Patients

et al. 2016

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IMPORTANCE Low mobility is common during hospitalization and associated with loss or declines in ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and limitations in community mobility. OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of an in-hospital mobility program (MP) on posthospitalization function and community mobility. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This single-blind randomized clinical trial used masked assessors to compare a MP with usual care (UC). Patients admitted to the medical wards of the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center from January 12, 2010, through June 29, 2011, were followed up throughout hospitalization with 1-month posthospitalization telephone follow-up. One hundred hospitalized patients 65 years or older were randomly assigned to the MP or UC groups. Patients were cognitively intact and able to walk 2 weeks before hospitalization. Data analysis was performed from November 21, 2012, to March 14, 2016. INTERVENTIONS Patients in the MP group were assisted with ambulation up to twice daily, and a behavioral strategy was used to encourage mobility. Patients in the UC group received twice-daily visits. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Changes in self-reported ADL and community mobility were assessed using the Katz ADL scale and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging Life-Space Assessment (LSA), respectively. The LSA measures community mobility based on the distance through which a person reports moving during the preceding 4 weeks. RESULTS Of 100 patients, 8 did not complete the study (6 in the MP group and 2 in the UC group). Patients (mean age, 73.9 years; 97 male [97.0%]; and 19 black [19.0%]) had a median length of stay of 3 days. No significant differences were found between groups at baseline. For all periods, groups were similar in ability to perform ADL; however, at 1-month after hospitalization, the LSA score was significantly higher in the MP (LSA score, 52.5) compared with the UC group (LSA score, 41.6) (P = .02). For the MP group, the 1-month posthospitalization LSA score was similar to the LSA score measured at admission. For the UC group, the LSA score decreased by approximately 10 points. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE A simple MP intervention had no effect on ADL function. However, the MP intervention enabled patients to maintain their prehospitalization community mobility, whereas those in the UC group experienced clinically significant declines. Lower life-space mobility is associated with increased risk of death, nursing home admission, and functional decline, suggesting that declines such as those observed in the UC group would be of great clinical importance. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00715962

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Measuring Life‐Space Mobility in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract: Life-space correlated with observed physical performance and self-reported function. It was stable over a 2-week period yet showed changes at 6 months.

Cited by 768 publications

References 9 publications

Barriers to outdoor physical activity and unmet physical activity need in older adults

Barriers to outdoor physical activity and unmet physical activity need in older adults

Mobility Limitation in the Older Patient

Comparison of Posthospitalization Function and Community Mobility in Hospital Mobility Program and Usual Care Patients

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