Designing ergonomic toilets and bathrooms for older adults: A study on anthropometric dimensions and recommendations

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the ergonomic design of toilets and bathroom equipment for older adults using anthropometric measurements.

Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Methods: Data were collected from 2,721 people aged ≥ 65 years in Turkey. Fourteen anthropometric measurements were evaluated. Body dimension characteristics were described using minimum, maximum, and arithmetic means and standard deviations and the 5^th, 25^th, 50^th, 75^th, and 95^th percentiles.

Results: The measurements showed that companies generally do not design bathroom toilet equipment that is suitable for older adults.

Conclusion: This study provides advice to designers and manufacturers on how to adapt their products to the bathroom according to users' body characteristics in order to increase person-environment fit for older people.

Keywords: Anthropometry; Design; Ergonomics; Older adults; Person-environment fit.