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Very old people’s use of the pedestrian environment: functional limitations, frequency of activity and environmental demands

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Abstract

Due to decreased functional capacity as well as high environmental demands there is a risk of diminishing activity outside home in very old age (age 80+). In order to explore differences according to functional limitations (FL) among very old people with respect to frequency of activity, perceived health, overall perception of neighbourhood environment, and perceived problems in the pedestrian environment, data derived from a postal questionnaire survey to very old people living in an urban area in Sweden were used. This explorative study is based on the sub-sample of people aged 80+ who reported outdoor activities (n = 97). Four groups of respondents with different types of FL were identified: with no FL (n = 23), with only movement-related FL (n = 26), with only perception/cognition-related FL (n = 16), and with both movement- and perception/ cognition-related FL (n = 32). The majority of the respondents reported rather high frequency of activity outside home. When examining differences between the four groups, the analysis indicated how the complexity of FL and perceived problems in the pedestrian environment impacted on their activity performance. Persons with both movement- and perception/cognition-related FL were less satisfied with their frequency of activity, experienced their health more negatively and experienced more problems in the pedestrian environment than in the other groups. The findings from this study indicate the importance of considering combinations of FL in creating supportive environments for activity and health.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to all the local authorities and associations (the health care services, the public services administration, politicians, the public transportation authority, tenant associations, landlords) for their participation; to the regional Road Administration for financial support and participation; to Kristianstad municipality for supporting the project; to the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) for additional financial support. The final preparation of this paper was accomplished in the context of the centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments at Lund University, financed by FAS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, Division of Occupational Therapy and Gerontology, Lund University, Box 157, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Pia Hovbrandt, Susanne Iwarsson, Vibeke Horstmann & Gunilla Carlsson

  2. Department of Technology and Society, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Agneta Ståhl

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  1. Pia Hovbrandt
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  2. Agneta Ståhl
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  5. Gunilla Carlsson
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Correspondence to Pia Hovbrandt.

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Hovbrandt, P., Ståhl, A., Iwarsson, S. et al. Very old people’s use of the pedestrian environment: functional limitations, frequency of activity and environmental demands. Eur J Ageing 4, 201–211 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-007-0064-2

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