Influence of Functional Capacity in the Living Space (LS) in Elders in Small Towns in the Colombian Andes: An Analysis of the Association Between SPPB and LS

Background: Elders’ Life Space (LS) in daily life is relevant to mobility and identifying barriers in space, frequency, and independence. However, there is a lack of work on the association with functional capacity. Goal: Establish the association between physical performance tests (SPPB) and LS in elders and the usefulness of SPPB as a predictor of LS. Methods: The SPPB and the LS instruments were applied to 106 elders who attended four hospitals in towns in Caldas, Colombia. An analysis by sex was conducted to assess the performance of both instruments. Statistics, correlations, and machine learning techniques were applied to establish the relevance of the variables in predicting LS. Results: Elders with scores above the LS cutoff point (≥56) were significantly higher for high SPPB levels in both sexes. 50% of people with non-high SPPB had LS below 56. The participants with non-high SPPB had 3.33 times more risk of having a life span below 56 than those with high SPPB. Conclusions: A HIGH level of SPPB is associated with higher values than 56 points in LS in 62.87% of participants. In contrast, only 10.47% in the upper range of living space were associated with non-high levels of SPPB. In the analysis by sex, the high level is associated with living space with values above 56, especially in men. A non-high-level SPPB was associated with a lower living space. Therefore, SPPB has the potential to be used as an early predictor of LS decline in clinical settings and epidemiological studies.