Home and health among different sub-groups of the ageing population: a comparison of two cohorts living in ordinary housing in Sweden

Table 2 Comparison of objective and perceived aspects of home between the younger old and very old cohort

Aspect of home variable	Younger old cohort N = 371	N	Very old cohort N = 397	N	p-value^g,h
Objective aspect
No. of environmental barriers^a
Outdoors, md (q1-q3)	9 (7–12)	370	10 (8–13)	396	0.004
Entrances, md (q1-q3)	13 (9–19)	370	12 (8–15)	396	0.019
Indoors, md (q1-q3)	45 (41–50)	370	35 (31–45)	396	<0.001
Total, md (q1-q3)	69 (62–76)	370	58 (49–66)	396	<0.001
Accessibility score^b
Outdoors, md (q1-q3)	0 (0–10)	370	30 (6–55)	389	<0.001
Entrances, md (q1-q3)	0 (0–7)	370	21 (3–44)	389	<0.001
Indoors, md (q1-q3)	0 (0–34)	370	46 (13–80)	389	<0.001
Total, md (q1-q3)	0 (0–58)	370	99 (37–184)	389	<0.001
Perceived aspect
Usability of the home^c
Activity md (q1-q3)	20 (19–20)	368	20 (18–20)	382	0.289
Environmental md (q1-q3)	29 (26–30)	371	28 (26–30)	383	0.777
Meaning of home^d
Physical md (q1-q3)	61 (55–66)	368	64 (59–70)	384	<0.001
Behavioral md (q1-q3)	54 (48–59)	368	53 (45–60)	385	1.0
Cognitive-emotional md (q1-q3)	85 (78–92)	368	86 (79–91)	384	1.0
Social md (q1-q3)	47 (41–50)	368	45 (40–50)	387	0.027
Housing related control beliefs^e
External control md (q1-q3)	36 (31–41)	369	45 (40–51)	373	<0.001
Housing satisfaction^f md (q1-q3)	5 (5–5)	371	5 (5–5)	387	1.0

Due to internal dropout in the variables used, in the younger older cohort n varies from 368–371, and in the very old cohort from 373–396
^aNo. of environmental barriers outdoors 28 items, entrance 46 items, indoors 87 items
^bAccessibility; higher score = less accessibility
^cUsability of the home: activity; 4 items, score range 4–20, higher = better usability; environment: 6 items, score range 6–30, higher = better usability
^dMeaning of home; for all subscales a higher score indicates a stronger bonding, Physical; 7 items score range 0–70, Behavioral 6 items, score range 0–60, Cognitive-emotional: 10 items score range 0–100, Social 5 items, score range 0–50
^eHousing related control external: 16 items, score range 16–80, higher score = more external control
^fHousing satisfaction: 1 item, score range 1–5, higher = more satisfied
^gDiferences in medians were tested using the Mann–Whitney
^h P-values corrected according to the Bonferroni method

ISSN: 1471-2318