Daily mood and out-of-home mobility in older adults: does cognitive impairment matter?
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 19, 2026

Using a Real-Time Locating System to Measure Walking Activity Associated with Wandering Behaviors Among Institutionalized Older Adults
Published on: February 8, 2019
Roman Kaspar1, Frank Oswald2, Hans-Werner Wahl3
1Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany German Institute for International Educational Research kaspar@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
Abstract:
This study explores the relationship between out-of-home behavior and daily mood of community-dwelling older adults with different levels of cognitive impairment across four consecutive weeks. The sample included 16 persons with early stage Alzheimer's disease (AD), 30 persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 95 cognitively healthy persons (CH). Using a multi-method approach, GPS tracking and daily-diary data were combined on a day-to-day basis. AD and MCI adults showed lower mood than the CH group. Whereas stronger positive links between mood and out-of-home behavior were found for AD compared to the total sample on an aggregate level, predicting daily mood by person (i.e., cognition) and occasion-specific characteristics (i.e., mobility and weekday), using multilevel regression analysis revealed no corresponding effect. In conclusion, cognitive status in old age appears to impact on mobility and mood as such, rather than on the mood and out-of-home behavior connection.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Lifestyle Factors and Health
Benefits of Physical Activity
Physical activity, whether through structured exercise or casual activities like walking, biking, or dancing, is a cornerstone of a...
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Distribution

