EPIDEMIOLOGICAL-SURVEY-BASED STUDY FOR UNDERSTANDING DAILY MOBILITY OF ELDERLY IN SOUTHEAST CHINA

Abstract

China's aging population has brought both opportunities and challenges to the society and economy. Promoting healthy aging is crucial to sustainable social and economic development. Learning the daily mobility pattern and health status of the elderly can provide references for the formulation and implementation of policies such as urban planning and social welfare. We derived key mobility indicators from the epidemiological survey data and then applied exploratory factor analysis to identify latent factors that can significantly affect mobility of the elderly in Southeast China. The study found that: quantity of out of home activities, extent of life space and stability of life space are three important factors that affect elder’s mobility; gender gap is small in elders’ mobility while the urban-rural differences in extent of life space and stability of life space are significant. The maximum distance from home for the rural elderly is significantly higher than urban elderly, while rural elder’s extent of activities is narrower and longer, and the repetition is low. There were significant differences in both the quantity of out of home activities and the extent of living space between elderly in China and Switzerland, and the activities of the elderly in China are more consistent, while the mobility pattern of the elderly in Switzerland are extremely divergent. Epidemiological survey data can be used as a data source for the elder’s daily mobility studying, and the results of this paper provide references for the policy formulation of policies to cope with aging, such as building an elderly-friendly community and caring for the physical and mental health of the elderly.