許多的疾病都會導致患者日常生活能力減退而需要臥床。而臥床可能導致的併發症有壓瘡、肺炎、肺塌陷、肌肉萎縮等併發症，而肺部塌陷易引發肺炎。肺炎不僅使患者身體狀況變差，同時也會增加照顧者的負擔，其併發率及死亡率也都相當高。隨著人口老化、慢性病的增加，探討在床頭角度對肺功能的影響是很重要的。目前已有許多文獻指出人體的姿勢與肺部的運作機制有關連性。但床頭角度對病患的肺功能影響卻鮮少有研究探討，若能得知床頭角度對患者肺功能的影響，不但能使患者的生活品質增加，也能降低臥床患者併發肺塌陷的風險。
本研究目的為探討不同床頭角度下對於受測者腰椎、骨盆角度、肺功能及血氧濃度的影響。評估不同床頭角度下，受測者肺功能的表現。
本研究測量32位年輕健康受測者。實驗利用一般病床，令床頭抬高不同角度(0、30、45、60、70)，並評估躺臥姿勢下腰椎、骨盆角度及肺功能之表現。實驗參數以T-test比較上述五種角度是否有顯著性差異，α值< 0.05。
結果顯示在床頭抬高45o下，受測者的肺功能表現優於其他床頭角度；而在床頭角度0o下，肺功能表現最差，且腰椎呈現前突。當床頭角度越大時，受測者坐姿趨於挺直，可能導致腹腔壓力增大，而阻礙橫膈的移動；當床頭角度越小時，胸腔血液回流佔據肺部空間、呼吸肌無法有效的收縮，使肺功能表現差。從結果得知在床頭抬高45o下，不但能降低腹腔壓力之外，還可使呼吸肌有效的收縮，最終使得肺功能得以改善，並提供臥床患者一個良好的選擇。本篇研究的限制為受測者為年輕健康的，若要探討老年臥床患者肺功能的影響需要更進一步的研究。

Many factors can contribute to patients becoming bedridden, including illness, stroke and spinal cord injuries. Being bedridden referring to having a sickness or a decline in physical and mental functioning that results in the necessity to remain in bed and is a situation in which patients require assistance in daily life. Complications related to being bedridden include pressure ulcers, pneumonia and muscle atrophy. A major cause of morbidity and mortality in bedridden patients is pneumonia. Pneumonia not only causes patients to have poor physical condition, but it also increases the burden on caregivers. Improving lung function can reduce the risk of lung atelectasis. In the past, many studies investigated the effect of posture on lung function. The connection between posture and lung performance has been proven to be significant. However, the effect of different backrest angles on lung function has not been studied. If different reclining postures were used to improve lung function in bedridden patients, it potentially would not only provide them with a better quality of life but also might reduce the risk of lung atelectasis.
In this study, in order to investigate the effect of bed backrest angle on lung function, a spirometer was used to measure the subjects’ lung function; an electrogoniometer was used to measure the lumbar-pelvis angle, and a pulse oximeter was used to measure blood saturation level when the head of the sickbed was elevated at 0o, 30o, 45o, 60o and 70o, respectively, in order to determine the optimal posture for the best lung function.
The results revealed that a subject’s posture influences lung performance during a lung function test. This study indicated that lung function with an elevated backrest angle of 45o is significantly superior to that of other backrest angles. At a backrest angle of 0o, lung function was found to significantly decrease, and lung function improved at a bed backrest angle of 45o. In this position, the movements of the diaphragm provide greater volume and enable subjects to perform better on lung function tests than is the case with other positions. This study also indicated that elevating the backrest angle is good for bedridden patients. Due to the fact that the subjects’ lung performance at a backrest angle of 0o was found to be inferior to other backrest angles, the findings of this study provide a reference for caretakers for a choice of positions for bedridden patients.

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