Article

OBJECTIVE: To describe the relationship between lower extremity physical
performance, self-reported mobility difficulty, and self-reported use of
compensatory strategies (CSs) for mobility inside the home. DESIGN:
Cross-sectional exploratory study. SETTING: Community-dwelling elders.
PARTICIPANTS: Disabled, cognitively intact women 65 years or older (N=1002), from
the Women's Health and Aging Study I. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURES: CS scale: no CS, behavioral modifications (BMs) only, durable medical
equipment (DME) with or without use of BMs, and any use of human help (HH); and 3
dichotomous CS measures: any CS (vs none); DME+HH (vs BMs only, among users of
any CS); any HH (vs DME only, among users of any DME/HH). RESULTS: Self-reported
mobility difficulty and physical performance were significantly correlated with
one another (r=-.57, P<.0001) and with the CS scale ([r=.51, P<.001] and [r=-.54,
P<.0001], respectively). Sequential logistic regressions showed self-reported
difficulty and physical performance were significant independent predictors of
each category of CS. For the any CS and DME+HH models, the odds ratio for
self-reported difficulty decreased by approximately 50% when physical performance
was included in the model, compared with difficulty alone ([18.0 to 8.6] and [7.3
to 3.8], respectively), but both physical performance and difficulty remained
significant predictors (P<.0001). The effects of covariates differed for the
various CS categories, with some covariates having independent relationships to
CS, and others appearing to have moderating or mediating effects on the
relationship of self-reported difficulty or physical performance to CS.
CONCLUSIONS: Physical performance, self-reported difficulty, health conditions,
and contextual factors have complex effects on the way elders carry out mobility
inside the home.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS