Higher perceived environmental barriers impact the risk of long-term participation restriction among older adults with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis, according to a recent study. Approaches aimed at reducing the development of participation restrictions in this population should consider decreasing environmental barriers. Participants from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study (MOST) self-reported participation at baseline, 30 months, and 60 months using the Instrumental Role subscale of the Late Life Disability Index (LLDI). Data on self-reported environmental features were from the Home and Community Environment questionnaire administered in the MOST-Knee Pain & Disability study. Researchers found:

• 69 (27%) of the 322 participants developed participation restriction by 60 months.
• Participants reporting high community mobility barriers at baseline had 1.8 times the risk of participation restriction at 60 months, after adjusting for covariates.
• Self-report of high transportation facilitators at baseline resulted in a reduced but statistically non-significant risk of participation restriction at 60 months.