title: The Boston Rehabilitative Impairment Study of the Elderly: a description of methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the methods of a longitudinal cohort study among older adults with preclinical disability. The study aims to address the lack of evidence guiding mobility rehabilitation for older adults by identifying those impairments and impairment combinations that are most responsible for mobility decline and disability progression over 2 years of follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Metropolitan-based health care system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling primary care patients aged ≥65 years (N=430), with self-reported modification of mobility tasks because of underlying health conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Late Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI) (primary outcome); Short Physical Performance Battery and 400-m walk test (secondary outcomes).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 7403 primary care patients identified as being potentially eligible for participation, 430 were enrolled. Participants have a mean age of 76.5 years, are 68% women, and have on average 4.2 chronic conditions. Mean LLFDI scores are 55.5 for Function and 68.9 and 52.3 for the Disability Limitation and Frequency domains, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Completion of our study aims will inform development of primary care-based rehabilitative strategies to prevent disability. Additionally, data generated in this investigation can also serve as a vital resource for ancillary studies addressing important questions in rehabilitative science relevant to geriatric care.
authors.affiliation: Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Percac-Lima
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Kurlinski
authors.forename: Julia C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Paige M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Braidie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Latham
authors.forename: Pengsheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jette
authors.forename: Suzanne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Leveille
authors.forename: Jonathan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bean
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001900:Boston; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012107:Research Design