One in Five People Who Get Mobility Scooters Develop Diabetes and Heart Disease

They have become a common means of transport for the ageing population. But new research suggests mobility scooters could do more harm than good by increasing the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Bad for your health: a U.S.study found that nearly one in five developed diabetes after buying a mobility scooter to get around.

Many also needed to be prescribed higher doses of blood pressure pills and statins, the cholesterol-busting drugs.

The published research, shows many of the benefits to patients’ health from being able to get around more easily are being wiped out by the effects on the cardiovascular system.

Now researchers are calling on doctors to weigh up the risks before recommending patients invest in a scooter. The numbers have risen in recent years as they have grown in popularity among those unable to walk properly due to illnesses such as arthritis, lung disease and heart failure. The machines can reach speeds of between 4mph and 8mph.

A committee of MPs is currently investigating the safety of mobility scooters, following a spate of accidents.

The latest research, by a team at the Eglin Air Force Base Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, both in Ohio, studied the effects on users’ health.

They recruited 102 patients, with an average age of 68, who had obtained medical approval for a scooter and monitored their health for a six-year period. They used them for an average of four hours every day, with only around 30 minutes spent walking.

Although patients said they felt better physically and mentally, tests showed 18.7% developed diabetes during the follow-up period. Diabetes increases the risks of heart attacks and strokes and is linked with a lack of exercise.

Researchers also found a fifth of patients on pills for high blood pressure needed higher doses to keep it under control, while half of those on statins also needed to up their intake.

In a report on their findings the researchers said: “Scooters can improve self-perceived quality of life. But they can also have detrimental long-term effects by increasing cardiovascular risk.”

“Doctors should carefully weigh such risks before approving their use and ensure healthy levels of activity afterwards.”

American Journal of Cardiology, March 2010