Life-Space Mobility in the Elderly: Current Perspectives

Abstract

Life-space mobility (LSM) is a concept for assessing patterns of functional mobility over time. LSM is gaining traction in the research of geriatric population health. Several instruments have been developed to measure LSM, such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham Life-Space Assessment (LSA) or the Nursing Home Life-Space Diameter instrument. There has been exponential growth in the use of instruments measuring LSM in studies of older adults since the concept was introduced in 1985. In response to the increased volume of publications with clinical applicability to those working in geriatric health or conducting population-based research in older adults, we conducted a narrative review: a) to provide a summary of the articles that have assessed validation of the University of Alabama at Birmingham LSA instrument, the most widely used instrument to assess LSM in older adults; and b) to provide a summary of the research articles that have examined LSM as independent or outcome variable. Studies for this review were obtained with an organized search format and were included if they were published in the past 20 years, written in English, published in peer-reviewed literature, and included LSM as an independent or outcome variable. Seventy-nine articles were identified: 36 that employed a cross-sectional design and 22 that employed a longitudinal/prospective design to examine LSM as outcome variable; 17 longitudinal/prospective design articles that examined LSM as primary independent variable; 3 review articles; and 1 systematic review. Areas of research included physical function, cognitive function, sensory impairment, mental health, falls, frailty, comorbidities, healthcare use, mortality, and social/environmental factors. These studies showed that LSM instruments can accurately predict morbidity, mortality, and healthcare use.

Keywords:

• life-space mobility
• LSA
• LSM
• mobility
• older adults

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Life-Space Mobility in the Elderly: Current Perspectives [Corrigendum]

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and Texas Resource Center on Minority Aging Research (R01 AG10939, R01 AG017638, 1P30 AG059301-01, and R01 MD010355). Jason Johnson is supported by a training grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (T32HS26122). Dr. Rodriguez is a Visiting Scholar at the Sealy Center on Aging and is partly supported by a grant from IIE-Scholar Rescue Fund. The authors acknowledge the assistance of Tara N Atkins, Reference & ILL Librarian, Moody Medical Library/Academic Resources; and Sarah Toombs Smith, PhD, ELS, Sealy Center on Aging, in article preparation. Ms Atkins and Dr. Toombs Smith received no compensation for this effort beyond their university salaries.

Disclosure

Authors declare no conflict of interest.