Life Space Mobility as an Interesting Metric
A relatively recent journal article by C. Brown et al “Trajectories of Life-Space Mobility After Hospitalization” in the March edition of Annals of Internal Medicine found that hospitalization decreases life space in older adults. Surgical hospitalizations are associated with immediate marked life-space declines followed by rapid recovery, in contrast to nonsurgical hospitalizations, which are associated with more modest immediate declines and little evidence of recovery after several years of follow–up.
This article brings to light 2 issues: impacts on mobility and a different way of assessing mobility. Life space assessment (LSA) is a measure of where a person goes, the frequency of going there and the dependency in getting there. Although the authors cite that this method may be best used for older adults, it may serve as a measure for people with disabilities as well (many of whom are older). Modification of the Life Space Questionnaire (LSQ) developed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1999) may provide an interesting way to measure integration of people with disabilities within their communities.
