Association Between Physical Performance and Sense of Autonomy in Outdoor Activities and Life‐Space Mobility in Community‐Dwelling Older People

Abstract

To study the relationship between physical performance and sense of autonomy in outdoor activities with life-space mobility-the spatial area a person purposefully moves through in daily life-in community-dwelling older people. Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data of the Life-Space Mobility in Old Age cohort study. Structured interviews in participants' homes. Community-dwelling people aged 75 to 90 (N = 848). Sense of autonomy outdoors (Impact on Participation and Autonomy questionnaire subscale), life-space mobility (Life-Space Assessment; University of Alabama, Birmingham Study of Aging), and Short Physical Performance Battery. The median score for life-space mobility was 64.0. In linear regression models, poorer physical performance and more-limited sense of autonomy were independently associated with more restrictions in life-space mobility, explaining approximately one-third of the variation in life-space mobility. Physical performance also had an indirect effect on life-space mobility through sense of autonomy outdoors. Subgroup analyses of 5-year age groups and sex revealed that the associations were somewhat stronger in women and the oldest age group. Physical performance and sense of autonomy in outdoor activities explained a substantial portion of the variation in life-space mobility in healthy older people, indicating that physical and psychosocial factors play a role in maintaining mobility in old age.