Concern for and knowledge of safety hazards among older people: Implications for research and prevention

Abstract

The initial development of two instruments to assess older adults' concern for and knowledge of home safety and personal injury is discussed. The first instrument contains 25 self-report items measuring concerns about several domains of home safety (e.g., falling, climbing stairs, taking baths, tripping over carpets, and fire). Eleven of the 25 items showed significant differences by age, with younger subjects reporting less concern for safety than older subjects. In addition, scores on a 12-item subscale were shown to be sensitive to accident history in elderly persons: Those who reported having had an accident that required medical attention in the last year scored higher in concern for safety than those who did not report having had an accident in the last year.

The second instrument included two forms, each comprising a different set of seven common household objects, and elderly subjects were asked to rank one set with regard to how hazardous they believed the objects were for seniors. Subjects' rankings were compared with objective rankings of the same objects derived from data of the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. The seniors' perceptions of danger were reasonably accurate. However, there were notable discrepancies; for example, they believed beds, wheelchairs, and tables were less dangerous than they actually are. The implications of the information produced by the two instruments for home safety interventions and household product design are discussed.