Environmental mobility barriers and walking for errands among older people who live alone vs. with others

BMC Public Health

Table 4 **Odds rations* for low and moderate amount of walking for errands among older people with different living arrangements and perceived environmental mobility barriers**

Environmental mobility barrier	LOWER vs. HIGWER
Environmental mobility barrier	Living alone (n = 29)		Living with others (n = 67)
	n	OR (95% Cl)	n	OR (95% Cl)
Traffic
Yes	9	2.00 (0.78-5.10)	9	2.76 (1.00-7.59)
No	20	1.00	58	4.18 (2.16-8.08)
Terrain
Yes	13	1.85 (0.79-4.33)	14	3.27 (1.33-8.07)
No	16	1.00	53	4.45 (2.19-9.03)
Distances
Yes	14	7.55 (2.88-19.78)	16	30.45 (7.83-118.44)
No	15	1.00	51	4.18 (2.06-8.47)
Entrance
Yes	16	8.82 (3.41-22.82)	8	3.98 (1.37-11.57)
No	13	1.00	59	6.97 (3.34-14.54)
	MODWER vs. HIGWER
	Living alone (n = 248)		Living with others (n = 133)
Traffic
Yes	55	1.30 (0.71-2.35)	30	1.22 (0.59-2.54)
No	193	1.00	103	1.04 (0.66-1.64)
Terrain
Yes	98	1.41 (0.85-2.33)	40	1.23 (0.64-2.34)
No	150	1.00	93	1.10 (0.68-1.79)
Distances
Yes	51	1.98 (0.98-3.98)	17	2.78 (0.79-9.84)
No	197	1.00	116	1.03 (0.67-1.59)
Entrance
Yes	59	2.15 (1.10-4.23)	23	0.94 (0.45-1.97)
No	189	1.00	110	1.21 (0.77-1.91)

OR Odds Ratio, CI Confidence Interval.
LOWER Low amount of walking for errands, MODWER Moderate amount of walking for errands, HIGWER High amount of walking for errands.
*Odds ratios adjusted for age and gender, calculated using multinomial logistic regression analyses comparing the odds of LOWER vs. HIGWER (upper panel) and MODWER vs. HIGWER (lower panel). Each environmental mobility barrier forms a separate model. Environmental mobility barriers studied were Traffic (noisy traffic and dangerous crossroads), Terrain (hilly terrain and poor street condition), Distances (long distance to services and lack of resting places), and Entrance (outdoor stairs present, indoor stairs present, no elevator, heavy doors, slippery floor and inadequate lighting). LOWER: ≤ 1.5 km/week or at most once a week; HIGWER: ≥ 8.5 km/week (highest quartile); MODWER: those who did not fall into LOWER or HIGWER categories.

ISSN: 1471-2458