Investigation of postural assessment for elderly residents sitting in long-term care facilities

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24593536
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Community health/Gerontological nurisng
• Research Institution: National Defense Medical College
• Principal Investigator: Yokoyama Etsuko 防衛医科大学校(医学教育部医学科進学課程及び専門課程、動物実験施設、共同利用研究, その他部局等, 准教授 (40329181)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAEKI Yuka 愛媛大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (70211927) ; KONAGAYA Momoe 昭和大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (10269293)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): OMIYA Yuko 目白大学, 看護学部, 専任講師 (90604611) ; KUSACHI Junko 東京慈恵会医科大学, 医学部看護学科, 准教授 (50513941) ; TSUJI Yoko 神奈川県立保健福祉大学, 保健福祉学部看護学科, 講師 (80460103)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 座位 / 姿勢ケア / 施設高齢者 / 維持期リハビリテーション / 車椅子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study was to investigate postural assessment for elderly residents sitting in long-term care facilities. We made semi-structured interviews in nurses and care-workers to clarify how posture is currently managed in elderly residents, and we also tried to elucidate and compare changes in autonomic nervous activity as a result of different wheelchair sitting postures in healthy individuals using postural measurement methods.
As a result of interviews, it found that when the participants judge their residents’ postures to be collapsed, slumped, or slanted, they revise the postures. In cases where the resident is not communicative, they read the signs of the pain and help.
In regards to autonomic nervous activity, at pelvic backward inclination angles of 0°and 5°, a decrease in RMSSD was observed. And at an angle of 25°, HF was significantly higher than that with 0°to 20°. In addition, SDNN and TP were significantly higher at an angle of 15°.

Free Research Field

老年看護学