Assessing life-space mobility for a more holistic view on wellbeing in geriatric research and clinical practice

Life-space mobility (LSM) is a holistic measure of resilience to physical decline and social isolation in later life. To promote its use as an outcome in geriatric studies and in clinical practice, this review paper explains the concept of LSM; outlines available questionnaires for LSM assessment, provides an overview of associations between LSM and other outcomes, and discusses emerging methods to measure LSM using wearable sensors. Based on performed activity around a central geographical anchor, LSM aims to quantify the observed contraction of daily activities associated with ageing. Several questionnaires are available to assess LSM in different contexts: the University of Alabama Life-Space Assessment and the Life-Space Questionnaire (community settings), the Nursing Home Life-Space Diameter (nursing home settings) and Life Space at Home (for house-bound populations). Some studies using GPS trackers to calculate life-space parameters reported promising results. Although these techniques reduce data collection burden, battery life and older people’s willingness to wear a tracker require further improvement before they can be used more widely. Regardless of the assessment method used, LSM was associated with measures of functional and cognitive abilities, nursing home admission and mortality. The current availability of instruments, the ongoing development of less burdensome data collection techniques, and evidence of construct validity support a case for promoting integration of LSM assessments into geriatric research studies and clinical practice. Ultimately, this will provide a more holistic view on older people’s health and wellbeing.