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Characteristics of the personal and environmental components of person-environment fit in very old age: a comparison between people with self-reported Parkinson’s disease and matched controls

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Abstract

Background and aims

To investigate differences and similarities in person–environment (P–E) fit problems between very old people with self-reported Parkinson’s disease (PD) and matched controls.

Methods

Data collected for the cross-national ENABLE-AGE Survey Study were used to identify people with self-reported PD (n = 20), and to select three matched controls per individual (n = 60). The matching criteria were age (mean = 82 years), sex, country, and type of housing. The data analysis targeted P–E fit (i.e. accessibility) problems, including studying the personal and environmental components separately. The personal component was analyzed in terms of functional limitations, and the environmental component in terms of physical environmental barriers.

Results

In comparison to the matched controls, the participants with PD had more functional limitations, used more mobility devices and were subjected to more P–E fit problems, though the number of environmental barriers did not differ from the controls. In the PD sample, P–E fit problems were significantly stronger associated with poor balance and incoordination, and the environmental barriers that generated the most severe P–E fit problems were more often located to the exterior surroundings of the housing compared to the controls.

Conclusions

The novel contribution of this explorative study is the demonstration of the type of knowledge that can be generated by unfolding and comparing the composition of P–E fit (accessibility) problems among people with self-reported PD as compared with matched controls. The knowledge thereby generated can be used to develop more targeted rehabilitation approaches, efficient housing adaptation services and societal planning for people with neurodegenerative disorders.

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Acknowledgments

The project “Enabling Autonomy, Participation, and Well-Being in Old Age: The Home Environment as a Determinant for Healthy Ageing” (ENABLE-AGE) was funded by the European Commission (QLRT-2001-00334). We thank all study participants, consortium and national team members, and sub-contractors for their contribution. We are specifically grateful for the valuable support by S. Ullén (statistician, PhD) and Helene Jacobsson (statistician, MSc), R&D Centre Skåne, Skåne University hospital, Sweden. This paper was prepared within MultiPark, financed by Lund University, and the Centre for Ageing and Supportive Environments (CASE), financed by the Swedish Research Council on Social Science and Working Life. Financial support was provided also by the Ribbing Foundation, Lund, Sweden.

Conflict of interest

In terms of financial interests, BS and SI are the copyright holders and owners of the Housing Enabler (HE) instrument and software, provided as commercial products (see http://www.enabler.nu). The third author has no competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Box 157, 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Björn Slaug, Maria H. Nilsson & Susanne Iwarsson

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  1. Björn Slaug
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  2. Maria H. Nilsson
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  3. Susanne Iwarsson
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Correspondence to Björn Slaug.

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Slaug, B., Nilsson, M.H. & Iwarsson, S. Characteristics of the personal and environmental components of person-environment fit in very old age: a comparison between people with self-reported Parkinson’s disease and matched controls. Aging Clin Exp Res 25, 667–675 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-013-0165-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-013-0165-z

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