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Description
The aging population continues to grow, necessitating increased healthcare, social security, and support. In response, Active Aging (AA) initiatives have been established to foster well-being and successful aging. AA refers to the engagement in physical, mental, and social activities to improve quality of life, independence, and social participation. However, engagement in activities (e.g. walking, driving, and daily life activities) may lead to greater physical risk and injuries (e.g. falls, collisions, burns, and cuts). Considering this, this study aims to explore potential drawbacks of AA engagement in daily activities, aiming to identify variables that could mitigate accidents and enhance safety. Alongside demographic factors (age, gender, education), predictors such as level of AA, exposure, and proneness toward risky behaviors are examined across indoor, outdoor, and driving contexts in 82 healthy older persons. A standard Bayesian multi-model approach was employed to analyze these variables in each context. In outdoor context, results showed the relationship between AA and proneness to risky behaviors; participants with greater proneness to risky behaviors showed the highest average number of accidents. In indoor context, female participants more exposed to domestic activities showed the highest average number of accidents, while male participants with greater proneness to risky behaviors showed a highest average number of driving accidents. The comprehensive framework resulting from this in-depth investigation identifies differentiated indicators for various contexts, potentially useful for preventing aging-related accidents. In conclusion, to decrease the risks related to engagement in activities, promotion of age-friendly environments could enhance safety and social participation for older people.
