title: Environmental mobility barriers and walking for errands among older people who live alone vs. with others.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Walking is the most popular form of physical activity among older people and for community-dwelling older people walking for errands is especially important. The aim of this study is to examine the association between self-reported environmental mobility barriers and amount of walking for errands among older people who live alone compared to those who live with others.
  
  
  METHODS
  This observational study is based on cross-sectional data on 657 people aged 75-81 living in Jyväskylä, Central Finland. Self-reports of environmental mobility barriers were collected under four categories: Traffic, Terrain, Distances and Entrance. Persons who reported walking for errands ≤ 1.5 km/week or at most once a week were categorized as having low amount of walking for errands (LOWER). High walking for errands (HIGWER) was defined as the highest quartile of kilometers walked per week (cut-off 8.5 km, referent). The rest were defined as having moderate amount of walking for errands (MODWER). Multinominal regression analysis was used to compare the odds for LOWER vs. HIGWER and MODWER vs. HIGWER, which were formed for each environmental mobility barrier separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants walked on average 6.5 km (SD 5.2) and 4.0 times (SD 2.2) per week and 14% reported LOWER. Persons living alone (57% of the participants) reported environmental mobility barriers more often than those living with others. LOWER was more common among those living with others. Among those living with others, all the environmental mobility barriers increased the odds for LOWER. In turn, among those living alone, only Distance- and Entrance- related environmental mobility barriers increased the odds for LOWER. People living alone typically run errands by themselves and become better aware of the barriers to environmental mobility, while those living with others have less exposure to environmental mobility barriers, as their walking for errands is more likely to be low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings emphasize the need to take living arrangements into account when analyzing the association between environmental mobility barriers and walking for errands. Future longitudinal studies are warranted to better understand the temporal order of events and to find ways to enhance walking for errands among older people.
authors.affiliation: Gerontology Research Center and Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, P,O,Box 35, Jyväskylä, FI-40014, Finland. li-tang.tsai@jyu.fi.
authors.forename: Li-Tang
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Merja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rantakokko
authors.forename: Erja
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Portegijs
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viljanen
authors.forename: Milla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saajanaho
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eronen
authors.forename: Taina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rantanen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012847:Single Person / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016138:Walking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data