DIFFICULTIES IN MOBILITY AMONG ELDERLY PEOPLE AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH SOCIOECONOMIC-FACTORS, DWELLING ENVIRONMENT AND USE OF SERVICES

The purpose of this study was to clarify the extent to which elderly p eople have difficulties in mobility, and determine their association w ith socioeconomic factors, dwelling environment and use of services. T he study groups were composed of two random samples of 800 persons age d 65-74 and 75-84, respectively. In all, 1224 non-institutionalized pe rsons (80%) were interviewed at home. The respondents were asked to as sess their ability to get about the house, negotiate stairs and walk o utdoors, as well as manage certain physical exercise tasks. Difficulti es in getting about outdoors were found most frequently among the wome n in the older age group (52% reported difficulties), and least freque ntly among the women in the younger age group (23%). Logistic regressi on analyses showed that difficulties in getting about outdoors were si gnificantly explained by length of education and defects in the dwelli ng environment. Also, difficulties in getting about outdoors explained significantly the use of home help. It is concluded that difficulties in mobility among elderly people, especially among elderly women, sho uld be reduced more actively either by improving their physical abilit ies or by developing compensation strategies for their own use or in r egard to the environment.