Developing a comprehensive measure of mobility: mobility over varied environments scale (MOVES)

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Existing mobility measures fail to capture its multi-dimensional nature.
• Conceptual frameworks identified four key domains: physical, cognitive, social, and transportation.
• The Mobility Over Varied Environments Scale (MOVES) was developed to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Mobility Over Varied Environments Scale (MOVES).
• To assess the expected patterns of MOVES in the Canadian adult population (≥45 years).

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging Cycle (2008-2009).
• An expert panel selected survey items across the four MOVES domains.
• Principal components analysis and Cronbach's alpha refined the scale; items were weighted to ensure each domain contributed equally.

Main Results:

• The MOVES scale ranges from 0 (immobile) to 40 (fully mobile), with a mean score of 29.58 in the Canadian adult population (≥45 years).
• Lower MOVES scores were observed in older adults, females, non-white individuals, those with poorer health, and individuals with lower socioeconomic status.
• Geographically, MOVES scores were lower in less urbanized areas.

Conclusions:

• MOVES provides a holistic measure for characterizing older adult mobility across diverse populations.
• The scale is valuable for research, surveillance, program evaluation, and interventions targeting mobility in older adults.
• Future research should explore individual/neighborhood predictors and the relationship between MOVES and broader health outcomes.