Life-Space Mobility Change Predicts 6-Month Mortality
- PMID: 28152168
- PMCID: PMC5826722
- DOI: 10.1111/jgs.14738
Life-Space Mobility Change Predicts 6-Month Mortality
Abstract
Objectives: To examine 6-month change in life-space mobility as a predictor of subsequent 6-month mortality in community-dwelling older adults.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Community-dwelling older adults from five Alabama counties in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging.
Participants: A random sample of 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries, stratified according to sex, race, and rural or urban residence, recruited between November 1999 and February 2001, followed by a telephone interview every 6 months for the subsequent 8.5 years.
Measurements: Mortality data were determined from informant contacts and confirmed using the National Death Index and Social Security Death Index. Life-space was measured at each interview using the UAB Life-Space Assessment, a validated instrument for assessing community mobility. Eleven thousand eight hundred seventeen 6-month life-space change scores were calculated over 8.5 years of follow-up. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test predictors of mortality at subsequent 6-month intervals.
Results: Three hundred fifty-four deaths occurred within 6 months of two sequential life-space assessments. Controlling for age, sex, race, rural or urban residence, and comorbidity, life-space score and life-space decline over the preceding 6-month interval predicted mortality. A 10-point decrease in life-space resulted in a 72% increase in odds of dying over the subsequent 6 months (odds ratio = 1.723, P < .001).
Conclusions: Life-space score at the beginning of a 6-month interval and change in life-space over 6 months were each associated with significant differences in subsequent 6-month mortality. Life-space assessment may assist clinicians in identifying older adults at risk of short-term mortality.
Keywords: comorbidity; life space; mobility; mortality; risk assessment.
© 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics Society.
Conflict of interest statement
References
-
- Newman AB, Simonsick EM, Naydeck BL, et al. Association of long-distance corridor walk performance with mortality, cardiovascular disease, mobility limitation, and disability. JAMA. 2006;295:2018–2026. - PubMed
-
- Cesari M. Role of gait speed in the assessment of older patients. JAMA. 2011;305:93–94. - PubMed
-
- Leskinen R, Laatikainen T, Peltonen M, Levälahti E, Antikainen R. Self-reported walking difficulty predicts late-life mortality in Finnish war veterans: results from the Veteran 1992 Project Survey. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2015;63:118–123. - PubMed
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources