Risk and protective factors for reduced life-space mobility among older adults with joint disease in Colombia: analysis of secondary data from a nationwide population-based survey

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association between life space and self-reported joint disease in the 2015 SABE Colombia survey. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study of secondary data collected during the SABE Colombia 2015 survey. Life space was considered the dependent variable, and self-reported joint disease as an independent variable. An ordinal probit model was used to determine the different influences of each variable including biological, sociodemografic, health condition and geriatric syndromes on the life space of each respondent, categorized as follows: 1=Confined to bedroom, 2=Confined to home, 3=Neighborhood, 4=Around town, 5=Out of town. Results: 6158 respondents reported joint disease, corresponding to an overall prevalence of 25.99% (95%CI 24.53–28.81%), stratified by life space as follows: confined to room, 3.73%; housebound, 10.31%; neighborhood, 13.64%; town, 49.24%; and out of town, 23.08%. Among female respondents, 78.26% were confined to their homes. The mean (SD) age of this population was 71.8 (8.3) years; respondents confined to their sleeping quarters were on average older. Men were less likely to have reduced life-space mobility, with the probability decreasing by 1.00% compared to women. Having the frailty phenotype increased the probability of having one’s life space confined to the bedroom by 0.69% compared to nonfrail respondents. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that being female, older, having a lower score on the Lawton scale, and being frail are factors that were associated with reduced life spaces. On the other hand, being male, having a higher socioeconomic status, higher educational attainment, good self-perception of health, and belonging to social groups were associated with a greater likelihood of having unlimited life-space Mobility.