Older Adults Limit Movements With Rising Temperatures

THURSDAY, Aug. 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Among older adults, higher temperatures are associated with lower life-space mobility, the geographic footprint of where people live, work, and recreate, according to a pilot study published in the May issue of Innovation in Aging.

Annabel X. Tan, Ph.D., M.P.H., from Stanford University in California, and colleagues evaluated the feasibility of a mobile health app designed to objectively capture life-space and to demonstrate its utility through a downstream analysis of ambient temperature and life-space mobility. The analysis included app data from 82 older adult participants.

The researchers found that the app successfully captured high-resolution longitudinal mobility data over two weeks per participant. Higher daily average temperature was significantly and nonlinearly negatively associated with life-space in the summer. The peak life-space ellipse area was seen at 28.8 degrees Celsius. For every degree greater than 28.8 degrees Celsius, there was a statistically significant decrease in ellipse area by 2.97 km². Similar patterns were seen for maximum and total distances traveled.

“This is the first study to show that higher temperatures can constrict life-space,” coauthor Michelle Odden, Ph.D., also from Stanford University, said in a statement. “That could result in less social engagement, less physical activity, and less time spent in the community — all of those things we know are important for healthy aging.”

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