Abstract
The workload incurreds on bedridden elderly was studied during a complete passive bathing. The 8 subjects were bathed in a special bath system while maintaining the supine positions without active movements, using mechanical help and staff assistance. The heart rate (HR) was measured with a telemetric instrument throughout the whole procedure to estimate the workload. The whole bathing procedure were classified into 4 stages; removing of clothes-transportation, washing, immersion in water and transportation-putting on clothes. The HR chaged with each bathing procedure with maximum HR occuring at the second or third stage in 5 of all the subjects. In the other 3 subjects, there was no apparent increase in HR. The ratio of the HR during the whole procedure to that of the resting time ranged from 1.06 to 1.29, and averaged 1.20 in the 8 subjects. The physiologic costs of whole bathing procedure by this system was estimated to be about 1/3 of that of bathing by oneself. Individual differences observed in HR changes among the subjects were discussed with reference to implications for further study.
