Association Between Physical Performance and Sense of Autonomy in Outdoor Activities and Life‐Space Mobility in Community‐Dwelling Older People

OBJECTIVES: To study the relationship between physical performance and sense of autonomy in outdoor activities with life-space mobility-the spatial area a person purposefully moves through in daily life-in community-dwelling older people. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses of baseline data of the Life-Space Mobility in Old Age cohort study. SETTING: Structured interviews in participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling people aged 75 to 90 (N = 848). MEASUREMENTS: Sense of autonomy outdoors (Impact on Participation and Autonomy questionnaire subscale), life-space mobility (Life-Space Assessment; University of Alabama, Birmingham Study of Aging), and Short Physical Performance Battery. RESULTS: The median score for life-space mobility was 64.0. In linear regression models, poorer physical performance and more-limited sense of autonomy were independently associated with more restrictions in life-space mobility, explaining approximately one-third of the variation in life-space mobility. Physical performance also had an indirect effect on life-space mobility through sense of autonomy outdoors. Subgroup analyses of 5-year age groups and sex revealed that the associations were somewhat stronger in women and the oldest age group. CONCLUSION: Physical performance and sense of autonomy in outdoor activities explained a substantial portion of the variation in life-space mobility in healthy older people, indicating that physical and psychosocial factors play a role in maintaining mobility in old age.