Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Apr;65(4):393-9.
doi: 10.1093/gerona/glp182. Epub 2009 Dec 8.

Community environmental factors are associated with disability in older adults with functional limitations: the MOST study

Julie J Keysor  1 , Alan M Jette, Michael P LaValley, Cora E Lewis, James C Torner, Michael C Nevitt, Dave T Felson; Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) group
Affiliations

Community environmental factors are associated with disability in older adults with functional limitations: the MOST study

Julie J Keysor et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2010 Apr.

Abstract

Background: There is limited evidence supporting the hypothesized environment-disability link. The objectives of this study were to (a) identify the prevalence of community mobility barriers and transportation facilitators and (b) examine whether barriers and facilitators were associated with disability among older adults with functional limitations.

Methods: Four hundred and thirty-five participants aged 65+ years old with functional limitations were recruited from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study, a prospective study of community-dwelling adults with or at risk of developing symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Presence of community barriers and facilitators was ascertained by the Home and Community Environment survey. Two domains of disability, (a) daily activity limitation (DAL) and (b) daily activity frequency (DAF), were assessed with the Late-Life Disability Instrument. Covariates included age, gender, education, race, comorbidity, body mass index, knee pain, and functional limitation. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine adjusted associations of community factors with presence of DAL and DAF.

Results: Approximately one third of the participants lived in a community with high mobility barriers and low transportation facilitators. High mobility barriers was associated with greater odds of DAL (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-3.1) after adjusting for covariates, and high transportation facilitators was associated with lower odds of DAL (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.3-0.8) but not with DAF in adjusted models.

Conclusion: People with functional limitations who live in communities that were more restrictive felt more limited in doing daily activities but did not perform these daily activities any less frequently.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Li F, Fisher J, Brownson RC. A multilevel analysis of change in neighborhood walking activity in older adults. J Aging Phys Act. 2005;13(2):145–159. - PubMed
    1. Li F, Fisher KJ, Brownson RC, Bosworth M. Multilevel modeling of built environment characteristics related to neighborhood walking activity in older adults. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005;59(7):558–564. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gauvin L, Riva M, Barnett T, et al. Association between neighborhood active living potential and walking. Am J Epidemiol. 2008;167(8):944–953. - PubMed
    1. Berke EM, Koepsell TD, Moudon AV, Hoskins RE, Larson EB. Association of the built environment with physical activity and obesity in older persons. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(3):486–492. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hoehner CM, Brennan Ramirez LK, Elliott MB, Handy SL, Brownson RC. Perceived and objective environmental measures and physical activity among urban adults. Am J Prev Med. 2005;28(2 suppl 2):105–116. - PubMed

Publication types