Bedridden Elderly: Factors and Risks
- September 25, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS Team
- Categories: Applied Science, IJRSI
International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VII, Issue IX, September 2020 | ISSN 2321–2705
Bedridden Elderly: Factors and Risks
Normala R., & Lukman Z.M.
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences,
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Nerus, 21300 Terengganu, Malaysia
Abstract: Health problems among the elderly will occur if their healthy-living needs are not met or achievable. The implications, if left unchecked, can affect the patients’ quality of life and lead to them suffering from social dysfunction. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to discuss the factors that cause the elderly to be bedridden and the possible risks arising from this problem.
Keywords: elderly, bedridden, factors, risks, care, gerontology.
I. INTRODUCTION
Among the various age groups, the elderly is most at risk from being bedridden (Cao et al., 2020). Each bedridden patient will differ in their recovery times. Some may be bedridden for a week, a month, a year or even longer, depending on the health issues that they are experiencing (Handicap International, 1996; Bekdemir & Ilhan, 2019).
A patient is defined as being bedridden if he or she is confined to a bed for 15 days or more, with 90% of their time spent in bed and requiring the assistance of another person to do their daily activities (Bains, Singh & Singh, 2010; Wani & Malik, 2013). Bedridden patients require full-time treatment (Hatano, et al., 2017). As part of the recovery process, bedridden patients need medical equipment such as special mattresses, tubes, special milk, oxygen and others (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2016).
Bedridden differs from bedrest in that the latter only involves the patient resting in bed for a determined period of time, as part of the recuperation process directed by a medical practitioner. Meanwhile, bedridden refers more to the perception of the deteriorating patient’s state of health and reaching the final stage of life which will end in death (Orun, Roesler & Martin, 2015).
