Neighbourhood deprivation and incident mobility disability in older adults.

OBJECTIVE

to assess whether incident mobility disability and neighbourhood deprivation in older people are associated independent of the effects of individual socio-economic status, health behaviours and health status.

METHODS

prospective cohort study with a 2-year follow-up.

SETTING

the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a national probability sample of non-institutionalised older people.

PARTICIPANTS

4,148 participants aged 60 years and over.

MEASUREMENTS

exposure was a census-based index of neighbourhood deprivation [the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD)]; outcomes were measured and self-reported incident mobility difficulties.

RESULTS

neighbourhood deprivation had a statistically significant effect on physical function following adjustment for individual socio-economic factors, health behaviours and health status. Compared to those living in the least deprived 20% of neighbourhoods, those in the most deprived neighbourhoods had a risk ratio (RR) of incident self-reported mobility difficulties of 1.75 (95% CI 1.14-2.70) and RR of incident-impaired gait speed of 1.63 (95% CI 1.01-2.62). In adjusted models, 4.0 per 100 (95% CI 3.0-5.4) older adults in neighbourhoods in the least deprived 20% had incident mobility difficulties over a 2-year period, whereas 13.6 per 100 (95% CI 10.5-17.4) older adults had incident mobility difficulties in neighbourhoods in the most deprived 20%.

CONCLUSIONS

older people living in deprived neighbourhoods are significantly more likely to experience incident mobility difficulties than those in less-deprived neighbourhoods. The mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear and research to identify mechanisms and appropriate interventions is needed.