Development of functional Pants design for the Wheelchair Users

This study shows the result of the survey conducted for male adults who had to use wheelchairs. The objectives of this study are to develop and improve the clothes for the disabled people and to make those garments put into practice. For this purpose, the survey was conducted at first so as to understand the situation of the disabled peoples wearing clothes and the garment demands. This survey is to suggest the suited form of the pants they want. The result of the study is as follows. 1) The average age of the subjects was 38.4 years old. They have used wheelchairs for 12 years on the average. Most subjects two limbs were paralyzed because of the acquired spinal paralysis. 60 percent of them were wearing the urine bags all the time. The average size of the pants they purchased was 39 inches, which means that their waist and abdominal circumstance were very big. 2) Regarding the situation of wearing habits, although the subjects usually purchased ready-to-wear, most of them are very dissatisfied with them. Especially, they considered the size as their main dissatisfaction. The main concern for buying garments was how comfortable and mobile they are while wearing them. They also needed outdoor garments. Lastly, they looked forward to the shop specialized in the garments for disabled people. 3) The functional pants for adult men using wheelchairs had the same zipper as that of general pants. The waist belt was made of rubber to reduce the pressure on waist and to cover 2 inches (5 cm) of waist circumference. Also it should be made to secure each button within the belt in accordance with size. Finally, it was designed as formal wrinkled pants that had pockets within the reach of hands when the disabled used wheelchairs.