The standing-up movement patterns in the patients for prevent bed-related falls. −Second Report−

Abstract

Bed-fall prevention in elderly people at night is one of the major issues of patient safety in hospital.

In the first paper, we analyzed the patients' motions leading to a fall from beds during sleep, and categorized characteristic movement pattern of patients. In this paper, we report a prototype system to prevent accidents based on our findings and its examinational result in a hospital. We call the system “Mimamori-Bed” (the watch and support bed). The system has several sensors and detects the patient motions：when sitting up or getting out of bed. In addition, this system automatically actuates a nurse call system and gives patients an audio warning when it detects patient motions. One-patient-trial was conducted for five consecutive days during which 41 nurse calls were triggered by our system. Interview to nurses participating in the trial were that the reaction time and detection accuracy were sufficient in performing their jobs.