Influence of pavement design parameters in safety perception in the elderly

Slipping related falls are still one of the major social problems, especially in the elderly. Although approaches focused on functional analysis of floor features have drawn valuable guidelines at this respect, the main problem remains unsolved. A new approach to this problem considers people's accommodation to friction conditions depending on their safety perception as a risk factor. In this sense, this paper analyses the influence of flooring design elements in safety perception in the elderly using Conjoint Analysis. Flooring and environmental parameters (texture, joints, colour, profile morphology and ambience) and its levels were used for the orthogonal fractional-factorial design to generate a representative subset of flooring scenarios. One hundred and eighty people older than 60 years took part in the experiments. They were selected in a balanced distribution of gender, age (into two age groups: 60–75 years and >75 years) and living environments (residence, day centres and assisted homes). For each living environment, the elderly according to their perception of safety ranked eight virtually modified pictures from the best to the worst. Results show that safety perception for each residence group depends on the flooring and ambient features. However, there were no differences between the two age groups. Regarding design features, texture was the most influent parameter, being the presence of noticeable joints an unexpected factor to transmit safety as well. Conjoint analysis allowed determining the safest and the most unsafe combinations of design elements for each of the groups and ambiences. This information helps flooring and ambient designers to convey the right safety perception for the elderly to reduce risk of falling by eliciting the proper accommodation.Relevance to the industryThis paper offers information relevant to a growing economical sector formed by interior designers, building industry and manufacturers of floorings and lighting for the elderly. Results can help them in providing products and environments better adapted to the elderly needs.