Abstract
The number of sudden deaths occurring during bathing in Japan has recently exceeded 10, 000 people and the 80% of these have occurred to the elderly. Although some guidelines for safe bathing are available, bathing-related accidents have still not declined. The purpose of this study is to use a questionnaire to survey the daily bathing habits of middle-aged and elderly people.
Method: For the subjects of this study, 77 middle-aged and elderly persons attending a healthful exercise class were given a questionnaire survey, and of these 10 persons were recruited at random and their daily bathing habits at home were studied. Results: The questionnaire survey revealed that almost all of the middle-aged and elderly people had unsafe bathing habits. In addition, a comparison of the questionnaire and the home habits study showed much discrepancy between the perceived and measured body and room temperatures before, during, and after bathing. Conclusion: Almost all middle-aged or elderly people had unsafe bathing habits.
