Housing and Health: Very Old People with Self-Reported Parkinson’s Disease versus Controls

Objectives. To explore whether aspects of housing and health among very old people with self-reported Parkinson’s disease (PD) differ from matched controls. Methods. Data from the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study were used to identify people with self-reported PD (n=20) and three matched controls/individual...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maria H. Nilsson, Maria Haak, Susanne Iwarsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:Parkinson's Disease
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/710839
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Summary:Objectives. To explore whether aspects of housing and health among very old people with self-reported Parkinson’s disease (PD) differ from matched controls. Methods. Data from the ENABLE-AGE Survey Study were used to identify people with self-reported PD (n=20) and three matched controls/individual (n=60). The matching criteria were age (mean = 82 years), sex, country, and type of housing. The analyses targeted problems in activities of daily living, objective and perceived aspects of housing, for example, number of environmental barriers, accessibility (i.e., person-environment fit), and usability. Results. The number of physical environmental barriers did not differ (P=0.727) between the samples. The PD sample had more (P<0.001) accessibility problems than controls and perceived their homes as less (P=0.003) usable in relation to activities. They were less independent and had more functional limitations (median 5 versus 2; P<0.001), and 70% experienced loss of stamina or poor balance. Conclusions. Due to the fact that they have more functional limitations than very old people in general, those with self-reported PD live in housing with more accessibility problems. This explorative study has implications for rehabilitation as well as societal planning, but larger studies including people with a confirmed PD diagnosis are needed.
ISSN:2090-8083
2042-0080