What older adults in Lithuania think about gerontechnologies, specifically fall detectors

Abstract

Introduction: Although the Lithuanian population is ageing, the expectancy of autonomous life in older people remains one of the shortest in Europe. Falls are particularly common in the older population and it is known that over 30% of people fail to get up unaided, which can result in severe consequences. Fall detection devices can noticeably reduce the fear of falling and ensure that the person receives aid in time. One of the aims of the research project supported by the Research Council of Lithuania “Smart Gerontechnology for Healthy Ageing” (grant No.SEN-06/2016) was to determine the knowledge about various technologies and the opinion about the usage of fall detection devices among older adults. Methods: 308 patients (≥60 years): 56 patients of Geriatric Department and 252 older adults living in the local community were questioned about the usage of technologies and their opinion about fall detectors. Results: The mean age of respondents was 75.8±6.1 years, 80.2% were female. A significant relationship was found between lower education and rarer usage of refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and washing machines, mobile phones and the Internet. A significant relationship was found between higher education and the intention to test new technical devices (P<0.001). 33% of respondents knew about fall detection, 80% of respondents wanted to use fall detection devices, especially females. Only 65.5% of respondents would have the Internet access if needed for the fall detection. Conclusions: Older adults with higher education were more informed about technologies. Most of older adults would like to use fall detectors.