"Studies should have stronger research design and higher methodological quality"

By lill [dot] eriksson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Lill Eriksson) - published 16 October 2023

Black and white portrait image of a glad Christina Heller. — Christina Heller.

The housing and health area is very complex and the overall quality of studies is very low. That is the opinion of CASE doctoral student Christina Heller, who wrote an article about this very thing.

– Future studies are needed, that examine the physical living environment and health among the elderly. These studies should have a stronger research design and higher methodological quality, she says.

In her article The relationship between Physical Housing Characteristics, Housing Accessibility and different aspects of health among Community-living older people: A Systematic Review, which is published in the Journal of Aging and Health, she describes the research group's systematic review of research results, where the relationship between physical housing characteristics or housing availability and various aspects of health among people over 60 are examined.

Among 15 studies, they found three research themes focused either on both entrances and indoors, or only indoor features or entrance features (elevator or stairs at the entrance).