Abstract
To assess the adequacy of seating provided for elderly outpatients, 97 subjects attending Medicine for the Elderly clinics were interviewed. Most patients rated the chairs of average or better comfort and seat height was judged to be appropriate by 77 (79%) patients.
However, over one half (54%) had difficulty when attempting to stand. Ten patients could not stand without assistance from another person. There were no significant differences in the ease of rising from those chairs with and those without armrests ( p > 0.10). Despite this, many subjects appeared to benefit from the use of armrests and 25% of subjects thought that all of the chairs provided should have armrests.
We recommend that all chairs in an outpatient clinic for elderly people should have armrests of appropriate design and height. This may prevent many elderly patients being unnecessarily dependent on others when attending hospital clinics.
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