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. 2021 Mar 3;18(5):2498.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18052498.

Effect of the Information Support Robot on the Daily Activity of Older People Living Alone in Actual Living Environment

Jumpei Mizuno  1 , Daisuke Saito  2 , Ken Sadohara  3 , Misato Nihei  4 , Shinichi Ohnaka  5 , Jun Suzurikawa  1 , Takenobu Inoue  1
Affiliations

Effect of the Information Support Robot on the Daily Activity of Older People Living Alone in Actual Living Environment

Jumpei Mizuno et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Information support robots (ISRs) have the potential to assist older people living alone to have an independent life. However, the effects of ISRs on the daily activity, especially the sleep patterns, of older people have not been clarified; moreover, it is unclear whether the effects of ISRs depend on the levels of cognitive function. To investigate these effects, we introduced an ISR into the actual living environment and then quantified induced changes according to the levels of cognitive function. Older people who maintained their cognitive function demonstrated the following behavioral changes after using the ISR: faster wake-up times, reduced sleep duration, and increased amount of activity in the daytime (p < 0.05, r = 0.77; p < 0.05, r = 0.89, and p < 0.1, r = 0.70, respectively). The results suggest that the ISR is beneficial in supporting the independence of older people living alone since living alone is associated with disturbed sleep patterns and low physical activity. The impact of the ISR on daily activity was more remarkable in the subjects with high cognitive function than in those with low cognitive function. These findings suggest that cognitive function is useful information in the ISR adaptation process. The present study has more solid external validity than that of a controlled environment study since it was done in a personal residential space.

Keywords: cognitive function; living alone; older people; real life situations; robot.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no COI-related corporations to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Procedure overview.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PaPeRo i robot, produced by the NEC Corporation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Information support algorithm that was developed to reliably convey information to older people.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Infrared sensor and installation drawing. (a) Infrared sensors (HIRO ICT Inc.; L90.0 × W50.0 × D30.0 mm) were used to evaluate the daily activity of older people. (b) Example of the sensor installation. Red dots represent the points where the sensors were installed.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of (a) the number of sensor firings in the daytime and (b) the number of sensor firings at night. Error bars indicate standard error, and asterisk indicates that p-value was less than 5%; BLp: Baseline phase, RSp: Robot support phase
Figure 6
Figure 6
Daily activity maps of all the subjects (a) in the ≤23 groups and (b) in the ≥24 groups, visualized from sensor data. The upper bar of each subject is a typical activity map at the BLp. The bottom bar of each subject is a typical activity map at the RSp.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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