Development of an assessment tool for falls from a sitting position based on behavioral characteristics of the elderly

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25670998
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Gerontological nursing
• Research Institution: Osaka City University
• Principal Investigator: SHIRAI Midori 大阪市立大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 教授 (30275151)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): AKIYAMA Yoko 大阪大学, 大学院工学研究科, 准教授 (50452470) ; SASAKI Yachiyo 大阪市立大学, 大学院看護学研究科, 准教授 (10382243) ; KITAMURA Yuka 大阪医科大学, 看護学部, 助教 (10438236)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 高齢者 / 転倒 / 転落 / アセスメント

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To develop an assessment tool capable of predicting falls from a sitting position in disabled elderly individuals, we asked 12 long-term care facilities for the elderly to report any accidents involving near misses in the preceding year. Falls from a sitting position amounted to 846 incidents, mostly occurring in day rooms and while using a wheelchair. The elderly individuals involved were mostly seated in a sacral sitting position and were often doing nothing at the time of the incident.
We asked three healthy elderly individuals and five adults to perform sacral sitting and normal sitting in a chair and wheelchair. We then observed behaviors, sitting pressure, and other factors for 30 min. During sacral sitting by the elderly, two individuals promptly corrected sitting posture soon after the observation started. Falls from a sitting position are associated with sitting pressure distribution represents a potential tool for predicting these incidents.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学