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Abstract:
In line with aging population on the rise globally, economically active population is increasingly growing and trip frequency of the aged is predicted to increase accordingly. Increase in trip frequency of the aged means the increase in use of walking environment by the aged and thus the aged uses more various walking facilities. As a result of reviewing the relevant documents, the aged feels more physical difficulties while walking up or down the stairs. Particularly on stairs, it's more difficult to make the physical balance of the body because of different movement from the even ground and given the walking pattern of the aged, falling risk is very high. Stair handrail is the device that prevents falling accident. Stair handrail used to be installed at a certain height to prevent the people from falling out of the stairs and in case of the mobility handicapped, it's recommended to install at 85cm, which however lacks the objective base. In this study, the stair handrail which the aged feel comfortable was investigated by height, qualitatively, and the correlation between the body height and walking pattern of the aged was analyzed based on data measured. According to the investigation, the aged preferred a certain height (87cm) irrespective of the body height which is different from the expectation that handrail height would have close correlation with the body size such as height. Such data is expected to make commitment to promoting the economic activities of many elderly people in a way of preventing the fall accident as well as ensuring safe and comfortable walking.
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