Abstract
Research shows that older people (aged 65 years and over) suffer many unintentional indoor falls which often lead to severe injuries. As a result of an increasingly aged population in developed countries, a sizable portion of healthcare funding is consumed in the treatment of fall-related injuries and associated long-term care. Detecting falls soon after they occur can be potentially live saving. In addition, early treatment of fall-related injuries can reduce treatment costs by minimizing health deterioration resulting from long periods spent incapacitated on the floor after a fall (a scenario known as a `long lie') and decreasing the number of hospital bed-days required. In this study, a previously proposed unobtrusive nighttime fall detection system based on wireless passive infrared sensors and furniture load sensors is evaluated in a pilot study involving three older subjects, monitored for a combined total of 174 days. No falls occurred during the study. The system reported a false alarm rate of 0.53 falls per day, which is comparable with similar unobtrusive and wearable sensor fall detection solutions.
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