Do older adults' beliefs about their community mobility predict walking performance?

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Biomechanics
• Environmental Psychology

Background:

• Maintaining community mobility (CM) is crucial for independent living in older adults.
• Environmental perceptions and self-efficacy for CM (SE-CM) are potential factors influencing mobility.
• Understanding predictors of walking performance is vital for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether environmental perceptions and SE-CM predict walking performance on complex tasks reflecting CM.
• To determine the additive predictive value of environmental perceptions and SE-CM on walking performance.
• To compare the predictive strength of SE-CM versus environmental perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Sixty independent living older adults (aged 64-85) participated.
• Participants completed six complex walking tasks (CWTs), the SE-CM scale, and the Environmental Analysis of Mobility Questionnaire (EAMQ).
• Multiple regression analyses were used to assess predictive relationships.

Main Results:

• Environmental perceptions (EAMQ scales) significantly predicted walking performance on CWTs (model R2Adj. = .078 to .139, p < .04).
• When SE-CM was included, it emerged as the sole significant predictor (p < .05), outperforming environmental perceptions.
• Contrary to hypotheses, SE-CM demonstrated stronger predictive power in additive models.

Conclusions:

• Self-efficacy for community mobility (SE-CM) is a more potent predictor of complex walking performance than environmental perceptions in older adults.
• SE-CM may be more closely aligned with the demands of walking performance tests, making it a sensitive indicator.
• Findings suggest focusing on enhancing SE-CM may be a more effective strategy for improving community mobility in older populations.