Experimental study on physical burden of transfer assistance for excretion - Comparison between transfer-type wheelchair and ordinary wheelchair

Assisting the elderly to or from a toilet for excretion is a heavy burden, and staff at nursing homes and families at home have problems such as backache and tiredness. There are several previous studies on standing up from a chair, bed, or toilet seat but almost no studies on the series of actions required for excretion (i.e., from a bed to a transfer apparatus and from the transfer apparatus to the toilet seat). The difference in the physical burden (muscular strength) for helpers when using the Norisukesan II, a transfer-type wheelchair developed in collaboration with the authors, and an ordinary wheelchair when transferring a patient to or from a toilet for excretion was studied by biometrics with surface electromyogram (EMG) patterns. We chose a total of 11 healthy adult examinees, 10 males and one female, with an average age of 47.7±9.7. Muscle activity was measured at eight positions: right and left biceps brachii muscles, right and left quadriceps femoris muscles, upper right and left trapezius muscles, and right and left waist muscles. The results showed that if the transfer-type wheelchair was used, the muscle activity of the helpers' biceps brachii muscles decreased by 70%, that of the quadriceps femoris muscles decreased by 60%, that of the trapezius muscles decreased by 70%, and that of the waist muscles decreased by 40%, when compared to using the ordinary wheelchair. It was therefore quantitatively clarified that assisting patients with the transfer-type wheelchair could reduce the assisting burden significantly, as the helpers did not have to tightly hold or turn the patients.