ABSTRACT

Background: As the population ages in Nigeria and worldwide, it is crucial to understand how environmental factors affect the health and mobility of older adults. Various factors environmental factors affect the gait speed and life space measures of older individuals, including resident types, stores and facilities, access to services, streets in neighborhood, places for walking/cycling, neighborhood surroundings, safety from traffic, safety from crime and neighborhood satisfaction.

Aim: This study aims to explore the environmental factors additively or interactively affecting the gait speed and life space measures of community dwelling older adults in Nigeria

Methodology:This cross-sectional study following Elm et al. (2023) the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) recruited community-dwelling older adults (60 years and above) in Benin City using a multistage sampling technique. The Neighbourhood Environmental Walkability Scale consist of questions regarding residence type, stores and facilities, access to services, streets in neighborhood, places for walking/cycling, neighborhood surroundings, safety from traffic, safety from crime, and neighborhood satisfaction (Neighborhood environmental walkability scale) was used to collect information on environmental factors. Gait speed and life space mobility were determined using 10meters walk test and life space questionnaire respectively. Predictors of gait speed and life space mobility was found using the multiple linear regression analysis, p-value = < 0.05.

Results: Three hundred and fifty-nineolder adults, mean age of 67.9 years and 85% were women participated in this study. findings showed that environmental factors are additively and interactively associated with mobility outcome. Additively,access to Services (β = 0.105, p = 0.041), places for walking/cycling (β =-0.123, p = 0.017), neighbourhood surroundings (β =0.294, p < 0.001) and safety from Crime (β =0.145, p = 0.004)were associated to gait speed while, access to services (β =-0.613, p = 0.001), safety from traffic (β =0.751, p = 0.002) and safety from crime (β = 1.926, p = 0.006) were associated with life space mobility.Interactively,residence type X safety from crime (β = 0.812, p = 0.001), access to services X neighbourhood satisfaction (β = -1.169, p = 0.024), and safety from traffic X safety from crime (β = -0.631, p =0.012)  were associated with gait speed while, residence type X access to services (β = 1.081, p = 0.001), residence type X safety from traffic (β = -0.738, p = 0.014), stores and facilities X safety from crime (β = -1.593, p = 0.024)  and places for walking/cycling and safety from traffic (β = -0.721, p = 0.054) were associated with life space mobility.

Conclusion:Environmental factors (residence type, stores and facilities, access to services, streets in neighborhood, places for walking/cycling, neighborhood surroundings, safety from traffic, safety from crime, and neighborhood satisfaction) had both additive and interactive effect on mobility outcome.

Keywords: Additive, interactive, environmental factors, gait speed, life space mobility, older adults.