The quality of elevators of public buildings for blind and/or wheelchair users, Mazandaran, Iran, 2010

This study was done in order to assess the appropriateness of elevators of public/private buildings located in Mazandaran province. This was a cross-sectional study done in summer 2010. Examined buildings were randomly selected when there were many samples, however, all were assessed if were unique or less than 4 such in the cities. A check list was developed according to governmental standards. Content validity was obtained by consultation with experts and consumers. Reliability was tested by "test-re-test" method (using Pearson correlation Coefficient, r 0.77). Thirty five hundreds buildings in 4 categories (educational, health care related, community services, residential and leisure places) were assessed with 4 items regarding the function and services to provide. Items were included: presence of sliding doors, enough space of lift for accommodating at least one wheelchair, appropriate height and place of the order button in/out of the elevator, palpable button for use by blind handicapped. Scales for evaluation were as; existed/none existed. Data entered the SPSS (16) software to analyze. One thousand and three hundreds and ten community service (CS), 1010 residential / leisure places (RLP), 830 health care related buildings (HCR) and 350 educational buildings (EB) were evaluated. In 93% of CS, 94% of RLP, 92% of HCR and 83% of EB, the mentioned criteria were not met. Despite the existence of a dedicated legislation for comply; the vast majority of elevators were not suitable for the disabled. Needed corrections are necessary and essential.