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Generating GPS Activity Spaces That Shed Light upon the Mobility Habits of Older Adults: A Descriptive Analysis

Resource type
Date created
2014
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
BackgroundMeasuring mobility is critical for understanding neighborhood influences on older adults’ health and functioning. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) may represent an important opportunity to measure, describe, and compare mobility patterns in older adults.MethodsWe generated three types of activity spaces (Standard Deviation Ellipse, Minimum Convex Polygon, Daily Path Area) using GPS data from 95 older adults in Vancouver, Canada. Calculated activity space areas and compactness were compared across sociodemographic and resource characteristics.ResultsArea measures derived from the three different approaches to developing activity spaces were highly correlated. Participants who were younger, lived in less walkable neighborhoods, had a valid driver’s license, had access to a vehicle, or had physical support to go outside of their homes had larger activity spaces. Mobility space compactness measures also differed by sociodemographic and resource characteristics.ConclusionsThis research extends the literature by demonstrating that GPS tracking can be used as a valuable tool to better understand the geographic mobility patterns of older adults. This study informs potential ways to maintain older adult independence by identifying factors that influence geographic mobility.
Document
Published as
Hirsch
et al. International Journal of Health Geographics
2014,
13
:51
http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/13/1/51
Publication title
International Journal of Health Geographics
Document title
Generating GPS Activity Spaces That Shed Light upon the Mobility Habits of Older Adults: A Descriptive Analysis
Date
2014
Volume
13
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file Size
1476-072X-13-51.pdf 770.85 KB

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