PATHS: Exploring the relationships between physiological, personal, social and environmental resources, GPS-assessed life-space mobility and frailty – a feasibility study

• Applicant: Dr. Sandra Mümken
• Subject Area: Biogerontology and Geriatric Medicine
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 570450001

Life-space mobility (LSM) is defined as active or passive movement through diverse domestic and out-of-home environments, (e.g. inside one's home, neighborhood, city lived in and beyond) and is related to out-of-home-activities and social participation. Self-reported and objective measurement techniques using GPS (Global Positioning System) are applied to determine LSM of older adults. GPS-assessed LSM is getting increasingly attention in interdisciplinary ageing research. It could be demonstrated that GPS-assessed LSM and movement attributes (e.g. active or passive transportation) are associated with Alzheimer’s, depression and physical fitness. Frailty is one of the leading geriatric syndromes with a prevalence of 13,7 % for frailty and 47,2 % for its preliminary stage pre-frailty in older adults over 60 in Germany. First results indicate the usefulness of GPS-measured LSM as a digital marker to identify frailty. This can be used for diagnosis, research and treatment planning. The relationship between GPS-assessed LSM, physiological (e.g. biomarkers of inflammation), personal (e.g. depression), social (e.g. number of social activities) and environmental (e.g. amount of green space in the near living environment) factors and frailty is poorly understood. A better understanding of these relationships enables the use of objective GPS data to recognise and prevent frailty. To investigate these relationships using statistical methods of path analysis, an observational study of at least 250 older people living at home is required. A feasibility study with 25 participants will be conducted in order to select suitable data collection methods, establish various outpatient recruitment strategies, evaluate the acceptance of participants for four consecutive weeks of GPS data collection and identify barriers and facilitating factors for conducting the stud. Feasibility is assessed using a mixed methods approach (integration of descriptive, quantitative and qualitative data). This includes the assessment of participant burden, documentation of study procedures and study metrics in combination with qualitative interviews. Interviews are conducted with the participants and the staff of the participating clinics. The results will feed into the planning and implementation of the ‘PATHS - Main Study’, which will provide information on the potential use of GPS-assisted LSM for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of frailty. In addition, the results of the feasibility study will contribute to the integration of GPS-assessed LSM into further studies in the fields of (bio-) gerontology and geriatrics

• DFG Programme: Research Grants