Life-Space Mobility and Active Aging as Factors Underlying Quality of Life Among Older People Before and During COVID-19 Lockdown in Finland—A Longitudinal Study

Abstract Background Social distancing, that is, avoiding places with other people and staying at home, was recommended to prevent viral transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Potentially, reduced out-of-home mobility and lower activity levels among older people may lower their quality of life (QOL). We studied cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of and changes in life-space mobility, active aging, and QOL during COVID-19 social distancing compared to 2 years before. Methods Altogether 809 community-living participants initially aged 75, 80, or 85 years of our active aging study (AGNES) conducted in 2017–2018 took part in the current AGNES-COVID-19 survey in May and June 2020. …