Health and Functioning of Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Urban and Rural Areas of Portugal-What Are the Implications for Physiotherapy Care?

BACKGROUND

Ageing leads to physical, cognitive, and social changes that affect people's functioning and social participation. Health literacy, sociodemographic, and environmental factors influence health outcomes and access to care. This study aimed to characterize the health and functioning of Portuguese adults aged 65 and over, focusing on sociodemographic factors, health status, lifestyle, fall risk, functional capacity, and social participation, and on comparing rural and urban populations.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

An exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted using data from older adults who completed the FallSensing screening protocol. Participants were classified by residence type (rural vs. urban), and group comparisons were made.

RESULTS

The sample (n = 474) was predominantly female (66.5%) with a mean age of 74.62 (±6.49) years. Rural participants were older (76.87 ± 6.89 vs. 73.50 ± 5.87) and had higher body mass index (BMI) (28.32 ± 4.31 vs. 27.51 ± 4.12), lower educational attainment-for example, 22.9% had no formal education compared to 7.0% of urban participants-and a higher prevalence of hypertension (72.6% vs. 55.4%), whereas urban participants experienced higher rates of osteoporosis (24.4% vs. 14.3%), hearing loss (41.9% vs. 26.9%), and alcohol consumption (12.7% vs. 2.3%) (p ≤ 0.05). Rural residents also demonstrated significantly poorer results for grip strength (21.03 ± 7.36 vs. 23.73 ± 8.61), gait speed (1.17 ± 0.44 vs. 1.45 ± 0.39), and the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (13.4 ± 10.40 vs. 9.62 ± 4.43), as well as lower exercise self-efficacy (12.83 ± 4.97 vs. 14.28 ± 4.40) (p < 0.001), and more pronounced moderate-to-severe restrictions in social participation (28.0% vs. 15.7%) (p = 0.013). They reported greater use of assistive devices and more severe limitations in social participation. Although falls were reported more often in urban areas, rural residents experienced greater fall frequency.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that rural living is associated with lower functional capacity and poorer health, underscoring the need for targeted physiotherapy and primary care strategies in rural settings.