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Built Environment and Health Outcomes: Identification of Contextual Risk Factors for Mental Well-being of Older Adults

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Abstract

The increasing proportion of elderly people is an emerging demographic trend globally. As the effect of the built environment on mental well-being of non-institutionalized older adults has been less studied, the present study tries to identify the risk factors in the built environment and its impact on the mental health of older adults. A questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was carried out to procure information from 1896 respondents nested within the households in Delhi, India. Nearly 28% of the respondents were reported for being depressed, followed by calm & peaceful (23.6%), emotionally stable (27.9%) and happy (20.5%). Indoor and outdoor environmental factors exhibited a significant graded relation with mental health. Depressed/downhearted mental condition was significantly related with overcrowding (OR = 2.9, p < 0.001), exposure to noise pollution (OR = 3.2, p < 0.001) and fear of crime (OR = 2.2, p < 0.001) after adjusting significant confounders. Whereas, living in low rise dwelling, better housing condition and healthy physical and social environment were demonstrated a significant impact on positive mental health, including emotionally stable (p < 0.01), peaceful & calm condition (p < 0.01) and happy (p < 0.001). The prevalence of depression in older adults in the study area was fairly high and a cause of concern. Features of the urban built environment are significant predictor of mental health and many of them have deleterious effects. Intensive research that integrates different parameters of the built environment and their impact on mental well-being across varying geographic scales and life stages is much needed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India

    Ghuncha Firdaus

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  1. Ghuncha Firdaus
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Correspondence to Ghuncha Firdaus.

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Conflict of Interest

The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Informed Consent

Informed verbal consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethical Treatment of Experimental Subjects (Animal and Human)

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.

Funding Agency

The University Grants Commission has funded for the study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis.

Annexure 1

Annexure 1

Annexure (1) Questionnaire used for survey

Personal characteristics

 Gender

Male/Female

 Age

60, 60–70, 71–80, >80

 Occupation

Retired, in service, doing business

 Source of Income

Salary, pension, children, spouse

 Living status

Living separately/ living with children/living with spouse

 Marital Status

Single, separated, widow, divorce

External factors (Neighbourhood characteristics)

 Location

Centrally located, away from the city centre, proximity to work place

 Connectivity

Connected to roadways/railways/bus stand/airport

 Amenities/Facilities

Health and education facilities, convenience shops nearby, play ground for children, park, community hall, parking space, sufficient greenery, efficient drainage system and scientific disposal of solid waste

 Dominant house type

Single, multistoreyed,

 Type of access do most dwellings have

Direct from street, garden, deck access, internal corridor or stairwell

 Safety and Security

Walk able streets, well lit streets, fear of crime or free of crime, wandering hooligans

 Common problems

Noise generating sources, industrial activities/construction work, presence of squatter settlements and slums nearby, spill over drainage system, solid waste everywhere, lacking park/playground/ library/ community hall.

Internal factors (household level Information)

 Type of dwelling

Single/multi-storeyed,

 No of floor in a building

<5, 5–10, >10,

 Physical condition of the building

Good/average/poor

 Plinth area of the house (square feet)

<150/ 151–300/ 301–450/ >450

 Number of rooms

One/two/three/>three,

 Amenities & facilities

Separate kitchen, toilet & bathroom, proper ventilation, heating and cooling system

 Open space in the house-

Kitchen garden, park, balcony, terraces, none

 Nature of landscape immediately outside the house

Park/street/main road, residential buildings, govt. offices, education and health centre, market, others

 Major indoor problems

Indoor noise/air pollution, overcrowding, broken window/wall

 Social support availability

Yes/No, If yes, which form-emotional, physical, intellectual

Mental Health Status

 During the past one year, 1. Depressed/downhearted, 2. Calm and Peaceful, 3. Emotionally stable, and 4. Happy

Most of the time

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Firdaus, G. Built Environment and Health Outcomes: Identification of Contextual Risk Factors for Mental Well-being of Older Adults. Ageing Int 42, 62–77 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-016-9276-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-016-9276-0

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