Housing and health: Very old people with self-reported Parkinson's disease versus controls

Objectives. to explore whether aspects of housing and health among very old people with self-reported parkinson's disease (pd) differ from matched controls. methods. data from the enable-age survey study were used to identify people with self-reported pd (n = 20) and three matched controls/individual (n = 60). the matching criteria were age (mean = 82 years),sex,country,and type of housing. the analyses targeted problems in activities of daily living,objective and perceived aspects of housing,for example,number of environmental barriers,accessibility (i.e.,person-environment fit),and usability. results. the number of physical environmental barriers did not differ (p = 0.727) between the samples. the pd sample had more (p < 0.001) accessibility problems than controls and perceived their homes as less (p = 0.003) usable in relation to activities. they were less independent and had more functional limitations (median 5 versus 2; p < 0.001),and 70% experienced loss of stamina or poor balance. conclusions. due to the fact that they have more functional limitations than very old people in general,those with self-reported pd live in housing with more accessibility problems. this explorative study has implications for rehabilitation as well as societal planning,but larger studies including people with a confirmed pd diagnosis are needed. © 2013 maria h. nilsson et al.