Obesity Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Obesity, including details on health, diet, prevention, exercise.

The effect of providing power mobility on body weight change.

Yang W, Wilson L, Oda I, Yan J

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the provision of power mobility would have an effect on body weight in adults who were first-time qualifiers for power mobility. DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study of consecutive subjects, who served as their own controls. The medical records of 468 subjects who were approved for power mobility during a 17-mo period were reviewed. Three weight groups (12 mos before, at, and 12 mos after the power mobility evaluation) were evaluated with repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The weight changes on subjects in different age groups (45-54, 55-64, 65-74, and >74), in geriatric vs. nongeriatric groups, and in different body mass index (BMI) groups were analyzed. RESULTS: Eighty-nine subjects met the inclusion criteria. They were obese (49.4%), and most of them were geriatric (64%). Congestive heart failure (30.34%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (22.47%) were the two main presenting diagnoses. The repeated-measures ANOVA showed no significant weight change in the three studied weight groups. Similar results were seen in the age and BMI subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: There was no statistically significant weight change in adults who were first-time qualifiers and who used power mobility for 1 yr.

Published 21 August 2007 in Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 86(9): 746-53.
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