To identify self-reported and performance-based factors associated with community ambulation in Canadian older adults.
Data from participants age 65 and older in the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA) Baseline Comprehensive Dataset version 4.0 were used. The CLSA is a 20 year longitudinal study of adults aged 45-85 at baseline, of >50,000 Canadians over two cohorts.
The community ambulation outcome was from a question about how often a person walked outside of their home or yard. This was dichotomized to never or seldom (0-2 days) and sometimes or often (3-7 days). Explanatory variables included self-reported measures such as general health, mental health, pain, driving, physical activity; and performance based measures of gait speed, timed up and go, grip, sit-to-stand, and balance. Control variables included sex, rural/urban, marital status, education, and income. Univariate and multivariable ordinal logistic regression models were carried out. We also ran individual interaction models of sex with number of chronic conditions, hours per day spent walking, weather (month), and gait speed. Weighted frequencies used trimmed weights and binary logistic regression using analytic weights.
CLSA participants (n=12056) aged 65 and older were included in the analysis. Mean age was 72.7 (SE 0.06) years; 61% were 65-74 years of age (n=7094). Fifty-four percent (n=6016) were female. Thirty percent (n=3767) of participants walked in the community never or seldom. Mean gait speed was 0.9 metres/second (95%CI for mean= 0.9;0.9). In the final model, older adults were more likely to walk outside sometimes or often vs never or seldom if: they had no activities prevented by pain vs most activities prevented by pain (OR 2.08 (95% CI 1.62; 2.67)); their most common form of transportation was not driving vs driving (OR 1.32 (1.10; 1.58)); they spent more than 30 min per day walking (in any location) vs less than 30 min (OR 11.10 (10.01; 12.30)), gait speed was higher (OR 2.11 (1.59;2.79)); the month had ‘good’ weather (neither too hot nor cold) (e.g. July vs January OR 1.85 (1.41; 2.44)). Individuals were less likely to walk outside sometimes or often vs never or seldom if they were female (OR 0.84 (0.76; 0.94)). No interactions were significant.
..
Being familiar with factors associated with community ambulation may assist physiotherapists to address those factors that could be changed with intervention, thereby improving community ambulation in adults aged 65 or older. When designing interventions for community ambulation, factors such as weather and form of transportation are factors that should be considered.
community ambulation
CLSA
