Abstract

Background

Outdoor mobility enables participation in essential out-of-home activities in old age.

Aim

To compare changes in different aspects of outdoor mobility during COVID-19 restrictions versus two years before according to self-reported walking.

Methods

Community-dwelling participants of AGNES study (2017–2018, initial age 75–85) responded to AGNES-COVID-19 postal survey in spring 2020 (N = 809). Life-space mobility, autonomy in participation outdoors, and self-reported physical activity were assessed at both time points and differences according to self-reported walking modifications and difficulty vs. intact walking at baseline were analyzed.

Results

Life-space mobility and autonomy in participation outdoors had declined (mean changes -11.4, SD 21.3; and 6.7, SD 5.3, respectively), whereas physical activity had increased (5.5 min/day, SD 25.1) at follow-up. Participants perceiving walking difficulty reported the poorest baseline outdoor mobility, a steeper decline in life-space mobility (p = 0.001), a smaller increase in physical activity (p < 0.001), and a smaller decline in autonomy in participation outdoors (p = 0.017) than those with intact walking. Those with walking modifications also reported lower baseline life-space mobility and physical activity, a steeper decline in life-space mobility and a smaller increase in physical activity those with intact walking (p < 0.001 for both).

Discussion

Participants reporting walking modifications remained the intermediate group in outdoor mobility over time, whereas those with walking difficulty showed the steepest decline in outdoor mobility and hence potential risk for accelerated further functional decline.

Conclusion

Interventions should target older people perceiving walking difficulty, as they may be at the risk for becoming homebound when environmental facilitators for outdoor mobility are removed.

Details

Title
Use of walking modifications, perceived walking difficulty and changes in outdoor mobility among community-dwelling older people during COVID-19 restrictions
Author
Leppä Heidi 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Karavirta Laura 1 ; Rantalainen Timo 1 ; Rantakokko Merja 2 ; Siltanen Sini 3 ; Portegijs Erja 1 ; Rantanen Taina 1 

1  University of Jyväskylä, Gerontology Research Center and Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, Jyväskylä, Finland (GRID:grid.9681.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 1013 7965) 
2  JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Rehabilitation, Jyväskylä, Finland (GRID:grid.449368.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0414 8475) 
3  Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland (GRID:grid.14758.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 1013 0499) 
Pages
2909-2916
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Oct 2021
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
15940667
e-ISSN
17208319
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01956-2
ProQuest document ID
2584135153
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.