نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Adaptive clothing design for MS patients with mobility limitations is considered a necessity in functional and rehabilitative apparel design due to its impact on independence, comfort, and mental health. This applied research aimed to identifying factors affecting on multiple sclerosis patients clothing design with mobility limitations by using a descriptive-survey quantitative method based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Data were collected from two independent groups: 120 MS patients from clinical centers in Sari and Babol were selected through convenience sampling (Cochran formula) and responded to a researcher‑made questionnaire, and 15 experts in textiles, clothing design, and rehabilitation were purposively sampled to perform pairwise comparisons for criteria prioritization. From the patients' perspective, the most important components of "tactile comfort" were antimicrobial, stain‑resistant, and odor‑resistant properties; for "thermal comfort", fabric thickness and weave type; and for "psychological comfort", the pattern and print of the garment. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based on expert judgments assigned weights to the main criteria tactile comfort, thermal comfort, and psychological comfort as 0.416, 0.384, and 0.201, respectively, indicating that tactile comfort had the highest priority. The results revealed that based on the experts' prioritization, "fabric weave type" with a weight of 0.138 was ranked as the most important factor, which was also aligned with the patients' views. Despite the applicability of the findings, the main limitation of the study is that tactile and thermal comfort were assessed based on patients' subjective perceptions of descriptive concepts (without physical contact with actual fabric samples). The novelty of this research lies in providing the first simultaneous quantitative prioritization of tactile, thermal, and psychological comfort dimensions using AHP for MS patients in Iran, and developing a practical framework for clothing designers based on patients needs and expert judgments. Nevertheless, adaptive clothing design based on ergonomic principles, comfort, and aesthetics can improve patients' independence and self‑confidence and facilitate the development of user‑centered apparel.
کلیدواژهها English