Effects of Gender, Laterality, Reaching Location, and Body Posture on the Maximum Reach of Elders

Abstract

The maximum reach envelope (MRE) is beneficial in a range of design areas. This research studied the effects of five reaching factors on the elder MRE including shoulder deviation on horizontal location (60° to 180°), shoulder deviation on the vertical location (-50° to 90°), body posture (sitting/standing), laterality (left/right), and gender (male/female).BRThirty Thai elders aged range between 60-75 years old were recruited to the study. Using the in-house design guide rail, test participants demonstrated their maximum voluntary reaching movement by moving his/her arm upward. For each trial, the plane was located to reflect different shoulder deviation. The motion capture device was used to track participant’s reach endpoints.BRGenerally, the most significant difference was found with gender and laterality (p-value 0.00). Male has longer reach distance than female. Reaching with right hand is farther than left hand. Participants reach at greater distance in standing as compared to sitting (p-value = 0.001). Interaction effects between horizontal and vertical location was significant (p-value = 0.004). Typically, elders reached more upward than downward. Horizontal location shows to have effect only when accompany with extreme vertical reach. Male and female are found to have different reaching behaviour according to the reaching locations.