Bed-Fall Detection and Prediction: A Generic Classification and Review of Bed-Fall Related Systems

Along with the rapid growth of the elderly population, the hospital quality and the safety of patients have become one of the priority concerns in the past few decades. The majority of injuries in the elderly result from bed -falls since the bed is a major part in his daily life. A single fall can cause severe physical and emotional injuries. Therefore, bed-falls have become a very active area of research in order to minimize their serious consequences. Mainly, there are two research tracks: bed-fall detection and bed-fall prediction. Both of them handle the fall issues with several sensing techniques and analysis models. In fact, there is a lack of reviews on bed-fall related technologies. Therefore, a generic classification of bed-fall related technologies including fall detection and prediction systems based on their sensor apparatus is proposed in this paper. Data processing techniques have been also highlighted. The objective of this work is to provide researchers in this field a good standpoint regarding bed-fall related systems.