Older Obese Patients Will Need Assistance to Walk

One of the main consequences associated with obesity is the fact that people begin to lose their ability to get around easily. Massive body weight prevents them from going about their daily business in the manner they were accustomed to, and researchers believe that this will translate into an increased use of assistive devices such as walkers and cane. But a large part of the obese subpopulation is at risk of using these devices incorrectly, a team of experts says in a new study.

The investigators, based at the Purdue University, explain that the Baby Boomer generation – which started in 1946 and ended around 1960 – is currently getting older. This means that the incidence of obesity is rising among them, and also that they are going to be needing increased support for their disabilities. The fact that they will be using an increased number of assistive devices in the near future is going to place even larger pressures on an already-battered healthcare system, the Purdue team believes.

“Baby Boomers are coming of age and obesity is an epidemic for this population as well. This research shows that if obesity continues at this rate, we are going to see an increase in the use of assistive devices, which can be costly to individuals and the health-care system. Reliance on assistive devices can affect everyday life in multiple ways, from how you bathe, to how you dress, to how you move,” explains Purdue doctoral student Karis Pressler, who studies sociology and gerontology. He is also the lead author of the new investigation.

“If people don't want to be reliant on these devices in the future, they need to realize how obesity heightens one's risk of becoming disabled and affects how a person will compensate for that disability,” he adds. The new research surveyed no less than 1,000 individuals, all of them older than 65. The scientists surveyed assistive devices use patterns in this group over an entire decade. Weight variations each of the individuals in the test showed were also written down, and then correlated with other data. Full details of the work appear in the latest issue of The Gerontologist, a renowned scientific journal.

“Obesity and disability create issues for society, such as in the number of handicap parking spots or availability of larger beds in hospitals and nursing homes. These challenges will escalate as our largest adult population ages. Being obese and disabled also fuels a vicious cycle. When you are functionally limited, physical activity is restricted, thereby burning fewer calories, which may lead to additional weight gain. This is another reminder that body weight matters throughout the life course,” says the director of the Purdue Center on Aging and the Life Course, Kenneth F. Ferraro. He is a coauthor of the study, and also a distinguished professor of sociology at the university.