title: Self-assessed health of elderly people in Brussels: does the built environment matter?
abstract: The living environment plays a key role in the "Aging in Place" strategy. We studied the influence of the built environment on the health status of elderly people living in Brussels. Using census and geo-coded data, we analysed whether built environment factors were associated with poor self-assessed health status and functional limitations of elderly residents (aged 65 and over). We concluded that evidence of such an association is weak and vulnerable to the composition of the neighbourhood.
authors: CORE, Université catholique de Louvain, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institut Wallon d'Evaluation, de Prospective et de Statistiques (IWEPS), B-5001 Namur, Belgium. Electronic address: c.dujardin@iweps.be.
authors: Claire
authors: C
authors: Dujardin
authors: Institute of Health and Society, Université catholique de Louvain, Clos Chapelle Aux Champs 30-b1.30.15.05, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: vincent.lorant@uclouvain.be.
authors: Vincent
authors: V
authors: Lorant
authors: CORE and FRS-FNRS, Université catholique de Louvain, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. Electronic address: isabelle.thomas@uclouvain.be.
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D004779:Environment Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Built urban environment; Elderly; Functional limitation; GIS data; Subjective health