Title: Human factors, ergonomic considerations and hospital bed designs: a review

Authors: Atul Andhare; Anil Onkar

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, South Ambazari Road, Nagpur – 440010, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, South Ambazari Road, Nagpur – 440010, India

Abstract: This paper discusses the issues related to hospital bed designs for the bedridden patients. With the growth of the population, the number of elderly and bedridden patients is increasing rapidly. Bedridden patients always wish to be less dependent on the caregiver. They feel discomfort and embarrassment while using bedpans. Also, patient handling can cause musculoskeletal injuries to the nursing staff. Therefore, reducing the effort in managing such patients and making the patients less dependent on the caretaker is necessary. This reduction is possible by the proper design of beds. The paper reviews and analyses various works related to the following. Patient comfort in beds, utilisation of bedpans, bedsores, effects of patient handling on the nursing staff, and different designs reported in the literature. The results are presented in the form of tables. The conclusion is that current bed designs need to be more ergonomic, patient-friendly, and allow the effortless handling of patients. Recommendations for the improvement in the bed designs are listed.

Keywords: bed design; patient; bedridden; handling; ergonomics; bedsores; bedpan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFE.2022.120474

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2022 Vol.9 No.1, pp.47 - 72

Received: 25 Nov 2020
Accepted: 23 Jul 2021
Published online: 21 Jan 2022 *

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