Usefulness of navigation application for outdoor mobility guides in community-dwelling older adults: a preliminary study

Purpose This study aimed to examine a mobile device navigation application's (apps) usefulness as a guide based on the required time and accuracy of moving to a destination for community-dwelling older adults. Methods Twelve older adults, aged >= 65 years (mean age 77.0 +/- 8.0, 62% female) who used the day-care centre for older adults, based on the long-term care insurance system in Kagoshima Prefecture, participated in this study. Study participants performed a Route Navigation Task (RNT), which is a simple real-world navigation test based on the actual living environment, after a brief assessment of physical function, cognitive function, and daily living routine. RNT required that participants arrive at a destination for the shortest time, under three tasks: map-, app-, and photo-language. The order of implementation of each task, determined by one of the tasks, was randomized, with a span of a minimum 1 month between tasks. Results The app-task resulted in a significantly shorter amount of travel time than did the other tasks (p < 0.05). The factors considerably correlating with travel time in the app-task were walking speed, mobile device proficiency, years of mobile device use, and higher-order activities of daily living. Conclusion Our findings suggested the possibility that the navigation app was useful as efficient outdoor mobility support, and healthcare providers should encourage the use of mobile devices for improving the active lifestyle of the community-dwelling older adults.