| Keywords |
Posture assessment; Mobility test; Practical performance test; Thermal comfort; Cold weather |
| Abstract |
We assessed the wearability of wearers through posture and mobility tests when wearing winter padded jackets with the following three types of different inner quilting designs: (1) an simple horizontal inner quilting pattern (Control), 2) horizontally-improved inner quilting pattern (Design A), and (3) verticallyimproved inner quilting pattern (Design B). Ten males and 10 females participated in both posture and mobility tests. The posture assessment consisted of 18 postures, while the mobility test consisted of 12 consecutive movements (3 repetitions), representing daily activities outside. The posture assessment revealed that Design A and B jackets provided relatively less restriction during arm, waist, and leg movements when compared to the Control jacket (p < 0.05). The differences among the three jacket conditions were more marked for males rather than females. The mobility test revealed that there were no significant differences among the three jacket conditions in completion time, heart rate, microclimate temperature and humidity inside the upper back and chest areas. However, males showed shorter completion time and higher humidity of clothing microclimate than females (p < 0.05). Interviews, which were conducted immediately after the mobility test, indicated that subjects felt more discomfort and restriction for Control when compared to Design A and B conditions. In summary, the present results suggest that body restriction and discomfort when wearing winter padded jackets can be reduced through improving inner quilting pattern designs even though that the outer design and materials were not changed. |