Risk factors and precipitants of long-term disability in community mobility: a cohort study of older persons.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Relatively little is known about why older persons develop long-term disability in community mobility.

Objective

To identify the risk factors and precipitants for long-term disability in walking a quarter mile and driving a car.

Design

Prospective cohort study from March 1998 to December 2009.

Setting

Greater New Haven, Connecticut.

Participants

641 persons, aged 70 years or older, who were active drivers or nondisabled in walking a quarter mile. Persons who were physically frail were oversampled.

Measurements

Candidate risk factors were assessed every 18 months. Disability in community mobility and exposure to potential precipitants, including illnesses or injuries leading to hospitalization or restricted activity, were assessed every

SUBMITTER: Gill TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3278794 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature