- 期刊
高齡者模擬體驗裝之設計與老化功能評估
The Design and the Evaluation of the Effectiveness of an Aging Suit
摘要
高齡者模擬體驗裝（Aging suit）是老人服務產業與醫療院所之專業教學輔具，作為推展高齡教育、進行年輕人與老年人代間教育之教具。然而，目前市售之老人體驗裝產品模擬老化效果不佳，亦不易量化，年輕人難以體會老化所帶來的不便與心理感受。本研究目的在於設計一套模擬老化之平衡與活動功能之高齡者體驗裝，同時以生物力學之評估指標估計體驗裝之模擬效果。本研究設計之體驗裝組成單元包括軟甲背板、手肘與膝蓋束套、腕關節與手指束套、肩關節彈性束帶、干擾足部平衡之鞋板等項。實驗部分有13名年輕志願者參與體驗裝之功能評估，平均年齡為24.2±0.99歲。實驗設計包含僅穿著干擾平衡之鞋板、模擬體驗裝及對照組等三種穿著模式；評估指標包括靜態站立之壓力中心（center of pressure；COP）軌跡測量、功能性前伸測試（functional reach test; FRT）及起身行走測試（timed up and go test; TUG）。結果顯示：鞋板是造成靜態站立不穩定的主要因素，鞋板及體驗裝上之束縛裝置均是影響動態不平衡的主因，而且兩者具有加乘效果，因此高齡者模擬體驗裝的設計應同時具備干擾足部平衡之鞋具及軀幹與四肢之束縛裝置。由分析壓力中心指標的結果顯示，本研究設計之高齡者模擬體驗裝應該具有相似容易跌倒老年人（77.8±5.8歲）於靜態站立之穩定度；由功能性前伸測試及起身行走測試兩指標推測，則具有70～80歲健康老年人之動態平衡與活動能力。
並列摘要
Aging suits are a professional teaching aid used by intergenerational activity programs at senior citizen services and medical institutes. Commercial aging suits seem to offer inadequate effectivenesswhensimulating the poor balance that many elderly individuals suffer from and it is also difficult to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of such suits. Young people find it hard to understand the inconvenience associated with activity among the elderly and the anxiety that this causes. The purposes of this research were to design an aging suit that provided a more realistic aged physiologicalstatusand then to assess quantitatively the effectiveness of the aging suit. The new aging suit consists of a soft back restriction board, straps attached to the elbow and knee joints, straps attached to thewrists and fingers, elastic belts around the shoulders and balance-impairment shoe plates. Thirteen healthy young volunteers participated in this study. The average ageof these volunteers was 24.2±0.99 years old.A clinicalbalance test that involved standing center of pressure(COP) tracing, a functional reach test (FRT), and a timed up and go test (TUG) were employed to assess the balance of these young subjects in the new aging suit. The results show that the major function of the shoe plates, which was to interfere with the subjects' standing balance, was successful, and that an aging suit with shoe plates was able to significantly interfere with dynamic balance. An analysis of thestanding center of pressure tracing results showed thatthe young subjects who wore the aging suit stood in an instable manner that was similar to a faller elderly person. When the function reach test and timed up and go test results were analyzed, the young subjectswho wore the aging suit were found to have motion instability similar to that 70-80 years old healthy elderly individuals.