Bathroom Handrail Requirements for Use by the Elderly

Abstract

Getting in and out of a bathtub during bathing can be difficult as people grow older, but Japanese people prefer to go into the tub. Experiments were conducted on the effectiveness of handrail positioning to assist their bathing activities. The height of a tub edge (measured from the outside) was changed along with different positioning of a handrail, both vertical and horizontal. General finding was that subjects preferred the floor height between 350 mm and 450 mm for the tub edge. The preferred handrail height they grabbed was between 760 mm and 1060 mm from the floor, with acceptable handrail position just above the edge or 100 mm inside the tub. Observation of subjects’ behavior and past experiences suggest that seating area such as bath board be provided for frail seniors to sit down to get in and out of the tub rather than forcing them to step across.