ReviewThe Gerontologist2009
The home environment and disability-related outcomes in aging individuals: what is the empirical evidence?
Review in The Gerontologist, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 303 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breaking Down Barriers: Findings from a Literature Review on Housing for People with Disabilities in Latin America.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Patterns of Home Environmental Modification Use and Functional Health: The Women's Health Initiative.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2020Trial
- The lived experience of bathing adaptations in the homes of older adults and their carers (BATH-OUT): A qualitative interview study.Health & social care in the community · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Effect of a Biobehavioral Environmental Approach on Disability Among Low-Income Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2019Trial
- CAPABLE trial: a randomized controlled trial of nurse, occupational therapist and handyman to reduce disability among older adults: rationale and design.Contemporary clinical trials · 2014Trial
- Effects of a rehabilitation program on perceived environmental barriers in older patients recovering from hip fracture: a randomized controlled trial.BioMed research international · 2013Trial
- Housing Insecurity, Incident Geriatric Conditions, and Mortality in Community-Living Older Persons.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Adult age-group differences in domain-specific environmental appraisal under standardized exposure.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- A Systematic Review of Home Modifications for Aging in Place in Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Article
- Housing Influences on Active Aging: Perspectives from African Immigrant Elders in Chicago's South Side.Journal of healthy eating and active living · 2025Article
- Meaning of home attenuates the relationship between functional limitations and active aging.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Article
- Reported Unmet Hearing Aid Need in Older People With Dementia: The US National Core Indicators Survey.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2024Article
- Housing Accessibility at Home and Rehabilitation Outcomes After a Stroke: An Explorative Study.HERD · 2023Article
- Development and content of a community-based reablement programme (I-MANAGE): a co-creation study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Residential Environments for Older Persons: A Comprehensive Literature Review (2005-2022).HERD · 2023Review
- Longitudinal Associations Between Disaster Damage and Falls/Fear of Falling in Older Adults: 9-Year Follow-Up of Survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.Innovation in aging · 2023Article
- The concept of disability and its causal mechanisms in older people over time from a theoretical perspective: a literature review.European journal of ageing · 2022Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeBuilding on the disablement process model and the concept of person-environment fit (p-e fit), this review article examines 2 critical questions concerning the role of home environments: (a) What is the recent evidence supporting a relationship between home environments and disability-related outcomes? and (b) What is the recent evidence regarding the effects of home modifications on disability-related outcomes? DESIGN AND
methodsUsing computerized and manual search, we identified relevant peer-reviewed original publications and review articles published between January 1, 1997, and August 31, 2006. For Research Question 1, 25 original investigations and for Research Question 2, 29 original investigations and 10 review articles were identified.
resultsFor Research Question 1, evidence for a relationship between home environments and disability-related outcomes for older adults exists but is limited by cross-sectional designs and poor research quality. For Research Question 2, evidence based on randomized controlled trials shows that improving home environments enhances functional ability outcomes but not so much falls-related outcomes. Some evidence also exists that studies using a p-e fit perspective result in more supportive findings than studies that do not use this framework. IMPLICATIONS: Considerable evidence exists that supports the role of home environments in the disablement process, but there are also inconsistencies in findings across studies. Future research should optimize psychometric properties of home environment assessment tools and explore the role of both objective characteristics and perceived attributions of home environments to understand person-environment dynamics and their impact on disability-related outcomes in old age.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.