OLDER RESIDENTS CANNOT OPERATE WELL THE INDUCTION HEATING (IH) COOKERS DUE TO EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION: THE WAKUYA PROJECT

Abstract

Handling errors with household flammables, such as pan burning, may result in serious accidents. The accidents were caused by a decrease in attention or executive function. The manual for the elderly with dementia of several cities simply suggests the use of Induction Heating (IH) cookers in cases of increased risk of fire. However, the IH cooker contains the complicated button operation and thus may be difficult for older residents to handle. We examined 105 residents aged 65 years or older in Wakuya, northern Japan, consisted of 57 Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0 (healthy), 41 CDR 0.5 (very mild dementia), and 7 CDR 1+ (dementia) participants. The use rate of IH (Induction Heating) appliance was 29% in the CDR 0 group and 24 % of the CDR 0.5 group. We asked the participants to actually use the IH cooker. Using or without the manual of the cooker, the participants who passed all the procedures were classified as “Good Users,” whereas those failed any procedures were classified as “Poor Users.” Their global cognitive and executive functions were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Trail Making Test A (TMT-A) and Digit Symbol (DS), respectively. The ratio of “Good Users” in the CDR 0, CDR 0.5, and CDR 1+ groups were 23 (40.4%), 7 (17.1%), and 0 (0%), respectively. For the CDR 0 group, the Good Users had higher scores on the MMSE, TMT-A, and DS compared to the Poor Users (p<0.05). As for the CDR 0.5 group, the Good Users showed higher scores on the DS (p<0.05) compared to the Poor Users. Since the IH cooker contains the complicated button operation, they may be difficult for older residents to handle. Executive function may be more likely to be involved in handling errors with household flammables.