: Going outdoors is crucial in promoting older adults’ health. This study examined the association between incident disability and the frequency of going outdoors in certain life spaces.

: This prospective study included 19,822 older adults (mean age ± standard deviation: 73.5 ± 5.8 years; range: 60 to 98 years; 53.6% women). The frequency of going outdoors within the past month was collected based on life space, categorized by distance from home (up to 1 km; 1–10 km; and >10 km). Participants were classified into three groups (called “Rarely”: less than 1 day, “Sometimes”: 1 to 3 days, and “Often”: 4 days or more) for each life space. Incident disability was defined using the Long-Term Care Insurance system data (mean follow-up: 23.3 months). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the association between incident disability and the frequency of going outdoors for each life space, adjusted for covariates.

: A total of 1,038 (5.2%) participants had an incident disability. Within the “up to 1 km” category, no frequency group was associated with disability; within “1–10 km,” two frequency groups were associated with disability (“Sometimes” group: hazard ratio [HR] 0.85, [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73–0.99]; “Often” group: HR 0.68, [95% CI: 0.57–0.81]); within “>10 km,” similar results were observed (“Sometimes” group: HR 0.84, [95% CI: 0.72–0.98]; “Often” group: HR 0.75, [95% CI: 0.53–1.07]).

: The frequency of going outdoors at specific distances from home is associated with disability.