Handrails for the elderly: A survey of the need for handrails and experiments to determine the optimal size of staircase handrails

Abstract

Handrails inside and outside of the home are considered useful in assisting elderly people who live independently. We investigated the need for staircase handrails and the optimal dimensions of handrails used by elderly people to ensure their safety and comfort. We distributed a questionnaire to over 2,800 people, aged 60 years or older, living at home. Logistic regression analysis was used to reveal associations between the necessity of handrails for walking up and down stairs and the age and gender of the subjects, as well as the degree of difficulty with which they performed visual activities. We then conducted experiments to determine the optimal size of a staircase handrail. 41 subjects, 63-86 years old, reported how frequently they used handrails inside and outside their homes, and suggested the optimal thickness and height of a handrail, as well as the optimal length of horizontal extensions. Based on our findings, we recommend optimal handrails in Japan to be 33-35 mm in diameter and 670-780 mm high, with horizontal extensions approximately 400 mm long. We also propose a regression model for choosing the optimal height for an individual: y = 0.294x1 + 0.188x2 + 18.63, where y is the handrail height (cm), x1 is the body height (cm) and x2 is the body weight (kg) of the user.