Arthritis Survey | Arthritis Information

 

Hello, my name is John and I'm currently a second year mechanical engineer studying in Ontario, Canada. My design project for the year is to devise or improve an already existing invention aimed at helping sufferers of arthritis in their everyday lives.
I don't mean to exploit the resources or sense of community already built here, but this is after all a good way of interacting with the people my group and I are trying to help. I hope these questions aren't too intrusive or ignorant, forgive me if they are. Here is the survey.

1. How old are you?

Under 20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

f)        Older than 60

 

2. Which type of arthritis do you have?

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Osteoarthritis

Both

Other: ___________________

 

3. Which joints have become increasingly limited in their range of motion due to pain or stiffness caused by arthritis (list as many as applicable)?

Wrists

Hands

Feet

Knees

Back

f)        Elbows

Fingers

 

4. Of the joints and areas listed above, rank from greatest to least those which cause the most discomfort or inhibition in daily life.

a)      _____________________

b)      _____________________

c)      _____________________

d)      _____________________

e)      _____________________

 

For the following questions, please assign a numerical value between 1 and 10 indicating the difficulty enountered while performing each specific activity where 1 means “with little to no difficulty” and where 10 means “with great difficulty”.

 

5. Cooking (and other kitchen activities):        1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

6.   Sports:            1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

7. Operating Electronics:           1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

8. Opening Containers:    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

9. General Heigyne:                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

10. Repair Work:               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

 

I would really appreciate any input this community could provide for me. If you'd rather e-mail me your answers, my address is vertical_run45@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you and best wishes to everyone. Thanks again,

John

How do you fill in the info? maybe copy and paste into an email?I just e-mailed him. He was really nice and said he'd let me know what they decided to work on. Haven't really heard from him yet.Sorry about the lack or response. My group is still working on idea generation but we've finally narrowed our sights on the problem of turning keys. We'd still appreciate any complete surveys we can get even if some of the answers don't seem to apply to the problem.

So far we have a couple ideas for turning keys. One is a solenoid powered idea, the other is a motor powered device, some extended arms or levers to change the direction and force of a person's arm necessary to turn the key. Now we're just running them through comparative tests to see which fits our specifications while meeting customer expectations. We actually have a presentation today where we'll be announcing our final selection which is a handheld device with internal threading which when pushed would turn the key, hopefully alleviating some of the stress on fingers and the wrist. I'll let you know of any advances as they come up.  I have an idea - Try to include something that helps push the %$&#*$ing key INTO the lock. Sorry. That's where I have all of my troubles :( It doesn't help that our front door lock is 80 years old and has been re-keyed 60 times. And the landlord REFUSES to buy us a new one. Meh. :| I'll suggest it today at our design meeting. That's not a bad idea. I didn't design the key turner, but for all I know my partner already incorporated something for pushing it in. If not, I'm sure we 4 guys can come up with something. Thanks for the feedback.

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