Commonly measured constructs of mobility included walking , climbing stairs , and lower extremity function .
There was heterogeneity in ways of defining and measuring mobility limitation in older adults living in the community .
Mobility is critical in maintaining independence in older adults .
This study aims to systematic ally review the scientific literature to identify measures of mobility limitation for community-dwelling older adults .
Measuring life-space mobility in community-dwelling older adults.
OBJECTIVES To evaluate the validity and reliability of a st and ardized approach for assessing life-space mobility ( the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging Life-Space Assessment ( LSA ) ) and its ability to detect changes in life-space over time in community-dwelling older adults . DESIGN Prospect i ve , observational cohort study . SETTING Five counties ( three rural and two urban ) in central Alabama . PARTICIPANTS Community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries ( N=306 ; 46 % male , 43 % African American ) who completed in-home baseline interviews and 2-week and 6-month telephone follow-up interviews . MEASUREMENTS The LSA assessed the range , independence , and frequency of movement over the 4 weeks preceding assessment s. Correlations between the baseline LSA and measures of physical and mental health ( physical performance , activities of daily living , instrumental activities of daily living , a global measure of health ( the short form-12 question survey ) , the Geriatric Depression Scale , and comorbidities ) established validity . Follow-up LSA scores established short-term test-retest reliability and the ability of the LSA to detect change . RESULTS For all LSA scoring methods , baseline and 2-week follow-up LSA correlations were greater than 0.86 ( 95 % confidence interval=0.82 - 0.97 ) . Highest correlations with measures of physical performance and function were noted for the LSA scoring method considering all attributes of mobility . The LSA showed both increases and decreases at 6 months . DISCUSSION Life-space correlated with observed physical performance and self-reported function . It was stable over a 2-week period yet showed changes at 6 months
Commonly measured constructs of mobility included walking , climbing stairs , and lower extremity function .
There was heterogeneity in ways of defining and measuring mobility limitation in older adults living in the community .
Mobility is critical in maintaining independence in older adults .
This study aims to systematic ally review the scientific literature to identify measures of mobility limitation for community-dwelling older adults .