OBJECTIVE: To determine whether decline in life-space mobility predicts increased health care utilization among community-dwelling older adults. METHOD: Health care utilization (number of emergency department [ED] visits and hospitalizations) was self-reported during monthly interviews among 419 community-dwelling African American and non-Hispanic White adults aged 75 years and older in The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging II. Life-space was measured using the UAB Life-Space Assessment. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine associations of life-space at the beginning of each interval with health care utilization over the 1-month interval. RESULTS: Overall, 400 participants were followed for 36 months. A 10-point decrease in life-space was associated with 14% increased odds of an ED visit and/or hospitalization over the next month, adjusting for demographics, transportation difficulty, comorbidity, and having a doctor visit in the last month. DISCUSSION: Life-space is a practical alternative in predicting future health care utilization to performance-based measures, which can be difficult to incorporate into clinical or public health practice.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether decline in life-space mobility predicts increased health care utilization among community-dwelling older adults. METHOD: Health care utilization (number of emergency department [ED] visits and hospitalizations) was self-reported during monthly interviews among 419 community-dwelling African American and non-Hispanic White adults aged 75 years and older in The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Study of Aging II. Life-space was measured using the UAB Life-Space Assessment. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine associations of life-space at the beginning of each interval with health care utilization over the 1-month interval. RESULTS: Overall, 400 participants were followed for 36 months. A 10-point decrease in life-space was associated with 14% increased odds of an ED visit and/or hospitalization over the next month, adjusting for demographics, transportation difficulty, comorbidity, and having a doctor visit in the last month. DISCUSSION: Life-space is a practical alternative in predicting future health care utilization to performance-based measures, which can be difficult to incorporate into clinical or public health practice.
Entities:
Keywords:
health care utilization; life-space; mobility
Authors: Kerry M Sheets; Allyson M Kats; Lisa Langsetmo; Dawn Mackey; Howard A Fink; Susan J Diem; Wei Duan-Porter; Peggy M Cawthon; John T Schousboe; Kristine E Ensrud Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2021-05-07 Impact factor: 7.538
Authors: A Kuspinar; C P Verschoor; M K Beauchamp; J Dushoff; J Ma; E Amster; C Bassim; V Dal Bello-Haas; M A Gregory; J E Harris; L Letts; S E Neil-Sztramko; J Richardson; R Valaitis; B Vrkljan Journal: BMC Geriatr Date: 2020-01-31 Impact factor: 3.921
Authors: M D Saraiva; D Apolinario; T J Avelino-Silva; C de Assis Moura Tavares; I F Gattás-Vernaglia; C Marques Fernandes; L M Rabelo; S Tavares Fernandes Yamaguti; T Karnakis; R Kalil-Filho; W Jacob-Filho; M J Romero Aliberti Journal: J Nutr Health Aging Date: 2021 Impact factor: 4.075