• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.346-357
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to develop clothing customized for dealing with patients with severe dementia. Based on the results of previous studies, The research patient clothing was designed to reduce the physical fatigue experienced by caregivers when dressing and undressing patients by changing the position and shape of the split in the patient's clothing. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the extent to which these modifications improved the ease of dressing and undressing the research patient. The research patient clothing was developed by moving the rear-center zipper to the side and changing the zipper from being half-open to fully open. Muscle energy consumption and fatigue generation were analyzed using EMG signals at the following sites: brachioradialis, biceps, triceps, anterior deltoid, medial deltoid, posterior deltoid, upper trapezius and erector spinae. Results indicated that the modified research patient clothing required less muscle energy and the occurrence of muscle fatigue decreased overall compared to traditional patient clothing. This was supported by the qualitative subjective evaluation, which revealed that dressing and undressing was easier with the modified clothing. In conclusion, repositioning of the back zipper to the side and the fully open slit shape significantly reduced caregiver fatigue when dressing and undressing patients.