To test whether alarms that are effective in awakening children and prompting their escape are also effective among older adults 60 to 84 years old. These two age groups are at highest risk of residential fire-related death. Using a randomized, non-blinded, repeated measures design, 31 older adults were exposed during the N2 or N3 sleep stages to four different smoke alarms signals: female voice, low-frequency tone, female voice combined with low-frequency tone (hybrid alarm), and high-frequency tone. The median age of study subjects was 62.0 years and 87.1% were female. All (n = 31) subjects awakened and performed the escape procedure to all four alarms; The median time-to-awaken was 1.0 s for all four alarms and the median time-to-escape was 4.0 s for the female voice alarm and 5.0 s for the other three alarms. Pairwise comparisons among all four alarms did not show any significant differences in the probability functions for time-to-awaken or time-to-escape. Older adult participants rapidly awakened and performed the escape procedure to all the alarm types tested. Study results suggest that smoke alarms that were developed for the unique developmental requirements of sleeping children are also effective among sleeping older adults. The findings of this study contribute to identification of smoke alarm signals that are effective for individuals of all ages.

测试能有效唤醒儿童并促使他们逃跑的警报对 60 至 84 岁的老年人是否也有效。这两个年龄段的住宅火灾相关死亡风险最高。使用随机、非盲、重复测量设计，31 名老年人在 N2 或 N3 睡眠阶段暴露于四种不同的烟雾警报信号：女声、低频音、女声结合低频音（混合警报） ) 和高频音调。研究对象的中位年龄为 62.0 岁，87.1% 为女性。所有 (n = 31) 受试者都醒来并对所有四个警报执行逃生程序；所有四个警报的平均觉醒时间为 1.0 秒，女性语音警报的平均逃生时间为 4.0 秒，其他三个警报的平均逃生时间为 5.0 秒。所有四个警报之间的成对比较没有显示唤醒时间或逃生时间的概率函数有任何显着差异。老年参与者迅速醒来并对所有测试的警报类型执行逃生程序。研究结果表明，针对熟睡儿童的独特发育需求而开发的烟雾报警器对熟睡的老年人也有效。这项研究的结果有助于识别对所有年龄段的人都有效的烟雾警报信号。研究结果表明，针对熟睡儿童的独特发育需求而开发的烟雾报警器对熟睡的老年人也有效。这项研究的结果有助于识别对所有年龄段的人都有效的烟雾警报信号。研究结果表明，针对熟睡儿童的独特发育需求而开发的烟雾报警器对熟睡的老年人也有效。这项研究的结果有助于识别对所有年龄段的人都有效的烟雾警报信号。