Difficulties in mobility among elderly people and their association with socioeconomic factors, dwelling environment and use of services.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the extent to which elderly people have difficulties in mobility, and determine their association with socioeconomic factors, dwelling environment and use of services. The study groups were composed of two random samples of 800 persons aged 65-74 and 75-84, respectively. In all, 1224 non-institutionalized persons (80%) were interviewed at home. The respondents were asked to assess their ability to get about the house, negotiate stairs and walk outdoors, as well as manage certain physical exercise tasks. Difficulties in getting about outdoors were found most frequently among the women in the older age group (52% reported difficulties), and least frequently among the women in the younger age group (23%). Logistic regression analyses showed that difficulties in getting about outdoors were significantly explained by length of education and defects in the dwelling environment. Also, difficulties in getting about outdoors explained significantly the use of home help. It is concluded that difficulties in mobility among elderly people, especially among elderly women, should be reduced more actively either by improving their physical abilities or by developing compensation strategies for their own use or in regard to the environment.