Impact of Environmental Factors on Independent Community Mobility

移动性，被定义为从一个点独立移动到另一个点的能力，来自于个人与环境的相互作用。当个人无法满足环境的需求，从而限制了他或她在越来越小的地理范围内的活动时，就会产生行动障碍（例如，附近，然后是他们的家，然后是他们家里的一个房间）。先前对老年人行动障碍的研究主要集中在个人内部因素，如虚弱、疼痛、运动丧失和导致行动障碍的合并症。很少有研究探讨外部因素，如环境特征，在老年人行动障碍的出现中所起的作用。本研究将开发一种工具来量化特定环境因素对老年人独立社区流动能力的影响。它将涉及制定和试点评价一项评估议定书，审查老年人在其社区中的活动，并评价在社区中进行的实际活动。该协议将用于未来的研究，以(a)确定导致老年人行动不便的关键环境因素（例如哪些因素限制个人在家），(b)描述老年人为满足其社区环境需求而使用的有效和无效策略，以及(c)开发可被临床医生用于评估个人行动不便的活动图。

Mobility, defined as the ability to move independently from one point to another, emerges from the interaction of the individual with the environment. Mobility disability results when the individual is unable to meet the demands of the environment and thus restricts his or her mobility to smaller and smaller geographic ranges (i.e. immediate neighborhood, then their home, then one room in their home). Previous research examining mobility disability in older adults has focused primarily on factors within the individual such as weakness, pain, loss of motion, and co-morbidities that result in mobility disability. Little research has been done to explore the role of external factors, such as environmental features, on the emergence of mobility disability in older adults. This study will develop a tool to quantify the influence of specific environmental factors on the capacity for independent community mobility in older adults. It will involve the development and pilot evaluation of an assessment protocol that examines the activities of older persons in their communities and evaluates actual activities done in the community. This protocol will be used in future research to (a) identify critical environmental factors which contribute to mobility disability in older adults (for example which factors restrict individuals to their homes), (b) describe effective and ineffective strategies used by older adults to meet the demands of their community environment, and (c) develop mobility nomograms that can be used by clinicians to assess individual's mobility disability.