Development of a technique to assess the risk of falling by walking behavior including the influence of the environment and context in daily life.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12918
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90150:Medical assistive technology-related
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Kobayashi Yoshiyuki 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 情報・人間工学領域, 研究チーム長 (00409682)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 歩行分析 / 動作解析 / バイオメカニクス / 転倒 / 高齢者

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Falls among the elderly are an accident in daily life that should be reduced at all costs in Japan's super-aged society. Previous studies have reported that those at high risk of falling have a higher variability of walking pattern than those at low risk of falling. The purpose of present study is to develop a system that can evaluate and provide feedback on an individual's risk of falling based on the variability of the overall walking behavior and physiological indices that can be measured during daily life. The technology developed in this study is making it possible for anyone, anywhere, at any time, to assess the risk of falling. We hope to put the results of this research into practical use as soon as possible to reduce the number of falls in the near future.

Free Research Field

人間工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

高齢者の転倒は，医療費が毎年7,300億円にも上ること[林ら，2007]，寝たきりになる原因の第3位であることなどから，超高齢社会を迎えた我が国にとって特に重要なテーマである．転倒は，そのリスクが高い者を早期に見つけることさえできれば，見守りを増やすなどの適切な対策をとることができる．しかし現状では，リソース不足など様々な理由で，個々人の転倒リスクの早期発見は実現に至っていない．本研究のように簡易センサで転倒リスクを評価できるようにすることは，このような問題を解決する手段として高い有用性が期待できる．