TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - Analysis of commode grab bar usage for the monitoring of older adults in the smart home environment
JO  - Conference proceedings - IEEE engineering in medicine and biology society
A1  - Arcelus, Amaya
A1  - Holtzman, Megan
A1  - Goubran, Rafik
A1  - Sveistrup, Heidi
A1  - Guitard, Paulette
A1  - Knoefel, Frank
SP  - 6155
EP  - 6158
VL  - 1
IS  - 
N2  - The occurrence of falls inside the home is a common yet potentially hazardous issue for adults as they age. Even with the installation of physical aids such as grab bars, weight transfers on and off a toilet or bathtub can become increasingly difficult as a person's level of physical mobility and sense of balance deteriorate. Detecting this deterioration becomes an important goal in fall prevention within a smart home. This paper develops an unobtrusive method of analyzing the usage of toilet grab bars using pressure sensors embedded into the arm rests of a commode. Clinical parameters are successfully extracted automatically from a series of stand-to-sit (StSi) and sit-to-stand (SiSt) transfers performed by a trial group of young and older adults. A preliminary comparison of the parameters indicates differences between the two groups, and aligns well with published characteristics obtained using accelerometers worn on the body. The unobtrusive nature of this method provides a useful tool to be incorporated into a system of continuous monitoring of older adults within the smart home environment.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1557-170X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IEMBS.2009.5334584
ID  - ref1
ER  -