THE ASSOCIATION OF NEIGHBORHOOD DISADVANTAGE AND LIFE-SPACE MOBILITY: RESULTS FROM THE UAB STUDY OF AGING

摘要

The neighborhood environments where older adults live are a critical factor in their aging process. Aging persons may experience physical impairment, limiting their ability to travel within and outside of their neighborhoods. This increases their susceptibility to risk factors in that environment. While this is a well-established concept, the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage (ND) and life-space mobility has not been previously examined. Therefore, using the UAB Study of Aging, a prospective cohort study of 1000 community-dwelling Alabama older adults age 65+, we examined the effects neighborhood disadvantage on life-space mobility. We used a two-item measure of neighborhood disadvantaged at the census tract level and included individual-level demographic factors such as poverty, measures of social isolation, and other indicators of health. Using generalized estimating equations, we found that in unadjusted models participants in both the mid and highest tertiles of ND had lower life-space mobility levels (b= -6.332 and b=-7.357, respectively) relative to those in the lowest level of ND. However, in adjusted models, accounting for individual-level poverty, the effect of neighborhoods was diminished and not significant. These findings suggest that while neighborhood disadvantage is an indicator of life-space mobility limitations, the underlying cause may be individual-level factors such as poverty. The relationship may be cyclical wherein neighborhood disadvantage limits life-space mobility, which in turn makes it difficult to overcome the effects of neighborhood disadvantage since one is not able to leave the neighborhood even temporarily. These hypothesis should be explored in future analyses.