| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TOCHIHARA Yutaka Kyushu University, Department of Ergonomics Faculty of Design, Professor, 大学院・芸術工学研究院, 教授 (50095907)
YOSHITAKE Misako Seinan Jo Gakuin University, Department of Nursing Faculty of Health and Welfare, Assistant, 保健福祉学部・看護学科, 助手 (50320388)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
To evaluate the safety and comfort of bathroom, dressing room, and restroom environments and to prevent accidents involving elderly people, we investigated the bathroom, dressing room, and restroom environments of the houses of 195 elderly people living in Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City via a questionnaire and on-the-site measurement. 1) The bathroom, dressing room, and restrooms met recommended size standards, and were equipped with air-conditioners, emergency devices, and handrails, less often in the houses occupied by elderly people alone. 2) The percentage of subjects who had complaints was slightly higher in the taller-than-the-average group when the bathroom, dressing room, and restroom sizes were smaller than the recommended standards. 3) The bathroom and dressing room sizes were adequate, and safety equipment was installed, more often in the houses of the subjects aged 75 years or over who lived with their children's families. However, the restroom size tended to be larger in the houses of those aged less than 75 years. 4) Most of the subjects had some physical disorders. The frequency of the use of the toilet showed considerable individual variation. The distance between the bedroom and the restroom was long in many houses.
As observed above, the bathroom, dressing room, and restroom sizes failed to meet recommended standards, and equipment such as air-conditioners, emergency devices, and handrails were absent, in many of the houses of elderly people. Improvements with regard to the size and equipment of the bathroom, dressing room, and restroom in consideration of physical and physiological states of the elderly are necessary for the prevention of accidents, and they are more urgently needed in houses occupied by elderly people living alone.
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