The association between objectively measured physical activity and life‐space mobility among older people

<jats:p>The purpose of this cross‐sectional study was to investigate the association between objectively measured physical activity and life‐space mobility in community‐dwelling older people. Life‐space refers to the spatial area a person purposefully moves through in daily life (bedroom, home, yard, neighborhood, town, and beyond) and life‐space mobility to the frequency of travel and the help needed when moving through different life‐space areas. The study population comprised community‐living 75‐ to 90‐year‐old people {<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 174; median age 79.7 [interquartile range (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IQR</jats:styled-content>) 7.1]}, participating in the accelerometer substudy of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">L</jats:styled-content>ife‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>pace <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">M</jats:styled-content>obility in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">O</jats:styled-content>ld <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">A</jats:styled-content>ge (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">LISPE</jats:styled-content>) project. Step counts and activity time were measured by an accelerometer (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">H</jats:styled-content>ookie “<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AM20 A</jats:styled-content>ctivity <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">M</jats:styled-content>eter”) for 7 days. Life‐space mobility was assessed with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">L</jats:styled-content>ife‐<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">S</jats:styled-content>pace <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">A</jats:styled-content>ssessment (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">LSA</jats:styled-content>) questionnaire. Altogether, 16% had a life‐space area restricted to the neighborhood when moving independently. Participants with a restricted life space were less physically active and about 70% of them had exceptionally low values in daily step counts (≤ 615 steps) and moderate activity time (≤ 6.8 min). Higher step counts and activity time correlated positively with life‐space mobility. Prospective studies are needed to clarify the temporal order of low physical activity level and restriction in life‐space mobility.</jats:p>