Digital Healthcare R&D Department, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Cheonan 31056, Chungcheongnam-do, Republic of Korea.
Department of Industrial Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;20(2):1281. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021281.
Although the older population has been rapidly growing, the availability of formal caregivers remains limited. Assistance provided by care robots has helped lower this burden; however, whether using a care robot while providing excretion care (EC) is quantitatively increasing or decreasing caregivers' physical care burden has not been extensively studied. This study aimed to quantitatively compare the physical burden experienced by caregivers while providing manual excretion care (MC) using a paper diaper versus robot-aided care (RC). Ten formal caregivers voluntarily participated in the experiment. MC and RC tasks were structuralized according to phases and classified by characteristics. The experiment was conducted in a smart care space. The physical load of formal caregivers was estimated by muscular activity and subjective rating of perceived physical discomfort. The results demonstrated that although the physical load on the lower back and upper extremities during the preparation and post-care phases were greater in RC than MC, RC markedly alleviated caregivers' physical load when performing front tasks. In the preparation-care phases, the physical loads on the lower back and upper extremities were approximately 40.2 and 39.6% higher in the case of RC than MC, respectively. Similar to the preparation-care phases, the physical loads on the lower back and upper extremities during post-care phases were approximately 39.5 and 61.7% greater in the case of RC than MC, respectively. On the other hand, in the front-care phases, the physical loads on the lower back and upper extremities were approximately 25.6 and 34.9% lower in the case of RC than MC, respectively. These findings can quantitatively explain the effectiveness and features of a care robot to stakeholders and provide foundational research data for the development of EC robots. This study emphasizes the implementation and promotion of the dissemination, popularization, and development of care robots to fulfill formal caregiving needs.
尽管老年人口增长迅速，但正式护理人员的供应仍然有限。护理机器人的帮助降低了这种负担；然而，使用护理机器人提供排泄护理（EC）是否在增加或减少护理人员的身体护理负担方面并没有得到广泛研究。本研究旨在定量比较使用纸质尿布进行手动排泄护理（MC）和机器人辅助护理（RC）时护理人员所经历的身体负担。十名正式护理人员自愿参加了实验。根据阶段对 MC 和 RC 任务进行结构化，并根据特征进行分类。实验在智能护理空间中进行。通过肌肉活动和对感知身体不适的主观评价来估计正式护理人员的身体负荷。结果表明，尽管在准备和护理后阶段，RC 中护理人员的下背部和上肢的体力负荷更大，但 RC 在执行前任务时明显减轻了护理人员的体力负荷。在准备-护理阶段，RC 的下背部和上肢的体力负荷分别比 MC 高约 40.2%和 39.6%。与准备-护理阶段类似，在护理后阶段，RC 的下背部和上肢的体力负荷分别比 MC 高约 39.5%和 61.7%。另一方面，在前护理阶段，RC 的下背部和上肢的体力负荷分别比 MC 低约 25.6%和 34.9%。这些发现可以定量解释护理机器人的有效性和特点，为 EC 机器人的开发提供基础研究数据。本研究强调了实施和推广护理机器人的传播、普及和发展，以满足正式护理需求。
