Abstract
This study examined the correlation between cardiac load indicators and the time taken for a self-bed bath in order to develop a safer self-bed bath method and familiarize cardiac-disease patients with self-care. The subjects were 10 healthy adult males, who performed a self-bed bath of both the upper extremities and the thoracic-abdominal part while sitting on a bed vertically inclined at 60°. Pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen intake (VO2) were measured before, during, and after the self-bed bath to calculate myocardial oxygen consumption (DP). The reciprocating self-bed bath motion was repeated five or ten times at 50 times/min. The results showed that the values for pulse, DP, and VO2 (with time) significantly increased, suggesting that cardiac load might increase even with light motion. Cardiorespiratory dynamics and metabolism increased during the motion. Thus, to enable cardiac-disease patients to take a self-bed bath safely, a caregiver should observe the cardiac load on the patient based on the measured pulse and should consider the time taken for self-care.
