{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T23:49:04Z","timestamp":1787960944252,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,24]],"date-time":"2018-12-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1545609600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of sociodemographic factors with the presence and different degrees of walking difficulties in elderly above 65 years, and to analyze association between evaluated variables and the presence and degree of waking difficulties. In the population based study, 3540 individuals age above 65 years from Serbia were recruited. Further predictors were analyzed: gender, age, level of education, marital status, body mass index (BMI), index of well-being and place of residence. We assessed difficulty in walking half a km on level ground without the use of any aid (Group-1); and difficulty in walking up or down 12 steps (Group-2). Walking difficulties were categorized as no difficulty, some difficulty, a lot of difficulty and cannot do at all. For present difficulty significant predictors were: age (Group-1 (OR-3.022)\/Group-2 (OR-3.825)), gender (Group-1 (OR-0.337)\/Group-2 (OR-0.311)), educational level (Group-1 (OR-0.689)\/Group-2 (OR-0.556)) and place of residence (Group-2 (OR-1.523)) while for non-performing the task, significant predictors were: age (Group-1 (OR-1.998)\/Group-2 (OR-2.096)), gender (Group-1 (OR-0.629)\/Group-2 (OR-0.495)), BMI (Group-1 (OR-1.219)\/Group-2 (OR-1.305)), marital status (Group-1 (OR 0.764)\/Group-2 (OR-0.769)), educational level (Group-1 (OR-0.679)\/Group-2 (OR-0.719)) and index of well-being (Group-2 (OR-0.764)). Understanding of predictors, and their role on functional decline in elderly is of great importance for the development of specific population-based health programs to prevent further functional loss and preserve achieved functional gains.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph16010037","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,24]],"date-time":"2018-12-24T10:37:49Z","timestamp":1545647869000},"page":"37","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Sociodemographic Predictors of Physical Functioning in the Elderly: A National Health Survey"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Milena","family":"Kostadinovic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Center of Serbia, Pasterova 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0609-9916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dejan","family":"Nikolic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, University Children\u2019s Hospital, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivana","family":"Petronic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, University Children\u2019s Hospital, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dragana","family":"Cirovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, University Children\u2019s Hospital, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mirko","family":"Grajic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Center of Serbia, Pasterova 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0684-359X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Milena","family":"Santric Milicevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,12,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1108","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.318.7191.1108","article-title":"Profile of disability in elderly people: Estimates from a longitudinal population study","volume":"318","author":"Melzer","year":"1999","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e011164","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2016-011164","article-title":"All-cause mortality risk in elderly individuals with disabilities: A retrospective observational study","volume":"6","author":"Wu","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"(2018, December 21). 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