Mobility in Old Age: Capacity Is Not Performance.

Eleftheria Giannouli,Wiebren Zijlstra,Otmar Bock,Sabato Mellone

doi:10.1155/2016/3261567

Eleftheria Giannouli, Wiebren Zijlstra + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/3261567

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Abstract

Background. Outcomes of laboratory-based tests for mobility are often used to infer about older adults' performance in real life; however, it is unclear whether such association exists. We hypothesized that mobility capacity, as measured in the laboratory, and mobility performance, as measured in real life, would be poorly linked. Methods. The sample consisted of 84 older adults (72.5 ± 5.9 years). Capacity was assessed via the iTUG and standard gait parameters (stride length, stride velocity, and cadence). Performance was assessed in real life over a period of 6.95 ± 1.99 days using smartphone technology to calculate following parameters: active and gait time, number of steps, life-space, mean action-range, and maximum action-range. Correlation analyses and stepwise multiple regression analyses were applied. Results. All laboratory measures demonstrated significant associations with the real-life measures (between r = .229 and r = .461). The multiple regression analyses indicated that the laboratory measures accounted for a significant but very low proportion of variance (between 5% and 21%) in real-life measures. Conclusion. In older adults without mobility impairments, capacity-related measures of mobility bear little significance for predicting real-life performance. Hence, other factors play a role in how older people manage their daily-life mobility. This should be considered for diagnosis and treatment of mobility deficits in older people.

Highlights

With advancing age, it often becomes increasingly difficult to access community resources like grocery stores, doctor’s offices, banks, and other essential services and to participate in sociocultural activities
Capacity was assessed via the iTUG and standard gait parameters
In order to control for seasonal variations, we examined the relationship between the average maximum temperature (AMT) for the registration period of each participant and the real-life variables and found that AMT correlates significantly but very weakly (r = .184, p = .047) only with life-space

Summary

Introduction

It often becomes increasingly difficult to access community resources like grocery stores, doctor’s offices, banks, and other essential services and to participate in sociocultural activities. Other common approaches are assessments based upon gait measures [11] and balance tasks [12]. These assessments are reliable since they are performed in a standardized fashion to control for confounding influences; they do not necessarily have high construct validity: it remains unclear how well persons’ test scores are correlated with their mobility in daily life. Outcomes of laboratory-based tests for mobility are often used to infer about older adults’ performance in real life; it is unclear whether such association exists. In older adults without mobility impairments, capacity-related measures of mobility bear little significance for predicting real-life performance. This should be considered for diagnosis and treatment of mobility deficits in older people

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Conclusion