Interrelationships Among Mobility, Health and Attitudinal Variables in an Urban Elderly Population

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Abstract
169 urban elderly Ss were interviewed to study (1) the interrelationships among mobility, health, demographic and factor analytically derived attitudinal variables and (2) the characteristics of users and non-users of an innovative transportation program. Positive correlations were obtained between mobility and each of the following variables: self-assessed health (p < .001); functional ability (p < .001); current income (p < .005); Life Satisfaction (p < .001); and Ego Integrity (p < .001). Current income was positively correlated with Life Satisfaction (p < .001) and Optimism about the Future (p < .005) and negatively correlated with Authoritarianism (p < .005) and Political Powerlessness (p < .005). Life Satisfaction and Ego Integrity were positively correlated with selfassessed health (p < .001 in both cases). Age, income and education did not differentiate between users and non-users, nor did four of the five attitude factors. However, users manifested significantly poorer self-assessed health and functional ability, significantly less mobility and less Ego Integrity than non-users. The findings suggested that further experimental studies be undertaken to investigate whether increased mobility would have an impact on the attitudes with which it was found to be correlated. This was discussed in light of the intervening variable of health and the relationship between psychological and somatic states.

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