Objectively measured mobility of rural community-dwelling people aged 80 and over is strongly associated with greater use of services for community integration and social support: An observational study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the objectively measured mobility status of rural community-dwelling older people and their use of formal and informal services.

DESIGN: Observational cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Community volunteers, rural New South Wales, Australia.

PARTICIPANTS: Seventy community-dwelling people aged 80 years or older.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The sum of formal and informal services used, expressed as both total hours per month and the risk of using five hours (the median) or more per month. Predictor variables were usual gait speed, Four Square Step Test, short physical performance battery and de Morton Mobility Index.

RESULTS: Each predictor variable was significantly associated with service use as a continuous or dichotomous variable. The strongest associations were with gait speed and the short physical performance battery continuous scoring. These relationships remained significant after adjusting for likely confounders, including age, sex, nutritional risk status, cognition and negative affect.

CONCLUSION: This study provides strong evidence that the worse an older person's objectively measured mobility scores, the greater their use of community services to remain living in their rural community. Every measure of mobility proved to be strongly associated with the hours of service use. This objective evidence enhances previous knowledge based on self-report measures. The impact on service use of strategies that enhance older people's mobility warrants investigation.