Cowley Stephen P, Leggett Susan
VIOSH Australia, School of Science and Engineering, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Work. 2011;39(4):477-83. doi: 10.3233/WOR-2011-1197.
Carers of bariatric (morbidly obese) clients are exposed to manual handling injury risk throughout the journey that such clients take within the healthcare system. To identify the factors that affect risks associated with bariatric clients and the subsequent adoption of risk control measures focus groups were conducted in two Australian state capitals: a suburban region of Melbourne and a large regional Victorian town. Participants, were recruited from within the primary health care sector, ambulance services, fire services and funeral businesses. It was found that the risks to which nurses, ambulance officers, fire fighters, and funeral industry employees are exposed are significant. The injury risk is influenced by the nature and design of the range of environments within which client movement is undertaken; the limited range of handling equipment available for use with bariatric clients; and the efficacy of organisational procedures and training. Adoption of risk controls is hampered by the absence of a standard definition of the term ``bariatric'' and the gaps in information flow during the bariatric client journey through the health care system. Various definitions of bariatric are applied in different sectors and there are limitations to the use of both weight and body mass index in those definitions.
肥胖症（病态肥胖）患者在医疗系统中的整个就医过程中，其护理人员都面临着体力搬运受伤的风险。为了确定影响肥胖症患者相关风险以及后续采取风险控制措施的因素，在澳大利亚的两个州首府开展了焦点小组讨论：墨尔本的一个郊区以及维多利亚州的一个大型区域城镇。参与者从初级卫生保健部门、救护车服务机构、消防部门和殡葬企业中招募。研究发现，护士、救护人员、消防员和殡葬行业员工所面临的风险很大。受伤风险受到患者活动所处一系列环境的性质和设计、可用于肥胖症患者的搬运设备种类有限，以及组织程序和培训效果的影响。由于“肥胖症”一词缺乏标准定义，以及肥胖症患者在医疗系统就医过程中信息流存在差距，风险控制措施的采用受到阻碍。不同部门对肥胖症有各种不同的定义，而且这些定义中体重和身体质量指数的使用都存在局限性。
