This paper describes data generated from a comprehensive study in which human factors techniques were applied to the analysis of 25 personal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs) performed by 60 older adults (age 55 to 93 years) living in the community. Demand profiles generated from task analysis of videotaped ADLs identify the demands inherent in task activities and the objects and environments associated with them. Examples of four different approaches to examine ADL performance using demand profiles are presented: global descriptions of demands across all ADL tasks, task component profiles, task-specific profiles, and action profiles.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Czaja, S. J., Clark, M. C., Weber, R. A., and Faletti M. V. (1988). Problems encountered by healthy older adults performing daily living. Unpublished manuscript.
2.
Czaja, S. J., and Drury, C. G. (1987). Patterns of consumer product accidents among older persons. Unpublished manuscript.
3.
Faletti, M. V. (1984). Human factors research and functional environments for the aged. In I. Altman, M. P. Lawton, and J. F. Wohlwill (Eds.), Elderly people and the environment (pp. 191–237). New York: Plenum.
4.
Fozard, J. L. (1981). Person-environment relationships in adulthood: Implications for human factors engineering. Human Factors, 23, 7-27.
5.
Lawton, M. P. (1977). The impact of the environment on aging and behavior. In J. E. Birren and K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (pp. 276–301). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
6.
Mital, A., and Aghazadeh, F. (1987). Psychophysical lifting capabilities for overreach heights. Ergonomics, 30, 901–909.
7.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1987a). D. Dawson, G. Hendershot, and J. Fulton, Aging in the eighties: Functional limitations of individuals age 65 years and over. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, No. 133. (DHHS Pub. No. [PHS] 87-1250). Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.
8.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1987b). R. J. Havlik, B. M. Liu, M. G. Kovar, et aI., Health statistics for older persons, United States, 1986. Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, Series 3, No. 2S (DHHS Pub. No. [PHS] 87-1409). Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service.
9.
Plato, C. C., and Norris, A. H. (1979). Osteoarthritis of the hand: Age specific joint-digit prevalence rates. American Journal of Epidemiology, 109, 169–180.
10.
Stoudt, H. W. (1981). The anthropometry of the elderly. Human Factors, 23, 29–37.
11.
Weber, R. A.Czaja, S. J., and Redmond, G. (1988, November). Computer-assisted coding and analysis of videotapes: Task analysis of older persons performing activities of daily living. Presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Francisco.
