Abstract
To contribute to clothing design suited to the elderly, this study examined physical functionsrelated to dressing and undressing abilities, and the effects of differently designed clothes on posture and body movement, comparing among younger, middle and older age groups . The major findings were as follows. 1. According to measurements for 410 healthy subjects of the three age groups, grip strength, vital capacity, tapping ability, forward flexion, and body movement capability declined with age, resulting difficulty of dressing/undressing among the elderly. It is also suggested that burden of clothes such as their weight are stressful for hypertensive elderly . 2. Comparative observation of accessible areas of the right index finger and range of visibility for five younger and five older female subjects disclosed that the lateral rear and forward rear rotation flexibilities of the shoulder area affected mostly the older-age subjects to ress/undress clothes. In this connection, back-open or shoulder-open-type shirts were more easily manipulated by the elderly than front-open-type shirts. 3. For 21 subjehts, aged 46 to 81, time of fastening and unfastening two types of buttons (1.2cm and 2.0 cm in diameter) were examined, together with tapping ability and grip strength . As the results of examination for the small button, the following equation was obtained: y=-0 .673x+29.949, in which y was time (seconds) for fastening four buttons and x was grip strength (kg) .For the elderly whose grip strength is weak, big-sized buttons are suitable . 4. Examination of speed of change in the center of gravity for five younger and five older subjects when they dressed and undressed seven different types of clothes revealed that those of separate top-and-bottom type and front-open type were easily manipulated by the latter group and that looseness of clothes was an important factor for their manipulation. Similarly, loose open-type socks were suited to the elderly. 5. To sum up, this study recommends to improve conditions which make it possible for anyindividuals, particularly the elderly, to utilize suitable clothes in accordance with their own physical abilities.
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