THE EFFECT OF VARIOUS CELL PHONE RELATED ACTIVITIES ON GAIT KINEMATICS

Effects of smartphone use while walking on external knee abduction moment peak: A crossover randomized trial on an instrumented treadmill

Introduction

In addition to its effects on cognitive awareness, smartphone use while walking may reduce the speed, regularity, and symmetry of walking. Although its effects on spatiotemporal gait parameters, such as walking speed and step width, have already been studied, little is currently known about the impact of smartphone dual tasking on lower limb kinetics.

Research question

Does smartphone use during walking alter gait patterns (i.e., walking speed and step width) and consequently external knee moments?

Methods

In a four-period crossover trial, external knee moment peaks, walking speed, and step width were assessed in 27 healthy adults during matched-speed walking, self-paced walking, self-paced walking with spoken calculation tasks, and self-paced walking with smartphone-entered calculation tasks. Differences between the smartphone use condition and all other conditions were determined using repeated measures ANOVA with predefined contrasts.

Results

Decreased walking speed and increased step width were observed during smartphone use. The mean external knee abduction moment peak (Nm/kg) differed significantly (p < 0.01) across the intervention condition, namely walking with smartphone-entered calculations (0.15; 95 % CI: 0.12, 0.18), and the control conditions, namely matched-speed walking (0.11; 95 % CI: 0.08, 0.13), self-paced walking (0.11; 95 % CI: 0.09, 0.14), and walking with spoken calculations (0.14; 95 % CI: 0.12, 0.16). After confounder adjustment for walking speed, step width, gender, and age, this primary outcome was significantly different between using the smartphone and self-paced walking (p < 0.01, r = 0.51). This effect size was reduced when comparing smartphone use with spoken calculations (p = 0.04, r = 0.32).

Conclusion

When using a smartphone while walking, walking speed is slowed down, step width is increased, and knee moments are adversely altered compared to walking without dual tasking. These altered knee moments are partially, but not entirely, attributable to the cognitive calculation task. These effects are age-independent, but women are more affected than men. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether sustained walking while using a smartphone adversely affects the development of knee joint pathologies.

Texting on a Smartphone While Walking Affects Gait Parameters

Cell phone use while walking is an ever-increasing traffic hazard, and leads to an augmented risk of accidents. There is a rising number of injuries to pedestrians using a cell phone. Texting on a cell phone while walking is an emerging problem among people of different ages. The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether using a cell phone while walking affects walking velocity, as well as cadence, stride width, and length in young people. Forty-two subjects (20 males, 22 females; mean age: 20.74 ± 1.34 years; mean height: 173.21 ± 8.07 cm; mean weight: 69.05 ± 14.07 kg) participated in the study. The subjects were asked to walk on an FDM-1.5 dynamometer platform four times at a constant comfortable velocity and a fast velocity of their choice. They were asked to continuously type one sentence on a cell phone while walking at the same velocity. The results showed that texting while walking led to a significant reduction in velocity compared to walking without the phone. Width, cadence, and length of right and left single steps were statistically significantly influenced by this task. In conclusion, such changes in gait parameters may result in an increased risk of pedestrian crossing accidents and tripping while walking. Phone use is an activity that should be avoided while walking.

Does texting while walking affect spatiotemporal gait parameters in healthy adults, older people, and persons with motor or cognitive disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Smartphone use during postural-locomotor tasks is an everyday activity for individuals of all ages in diverse environmental situations and with various health conditions. Nevertheless, the use of smartphones during walking is responsible for many accidents.

RESEARCH QUESTION

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined spatiotemporal gait parameters during the dual-task situation "texting + gait" versus isolated gait task (single task) in adult persons (>18 years).

METHODS

Electronic database searches were performed in PubMed, Embase, CINHAL, and LISSA. Two examiners assessed the eligibility and quality of appraisal with the Downs and Black checklist. The standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95 % confidence intervals was calculated to compare single- and dual-task situations. The pooled estimates of the overall effect were computed using a random or fixed effects method, and forest plots were generated.

RESULTS AND SIGNIFICANCE

A total of 25 studies were included. All studies included healthy adults, with four studies including older persons and three including people with pathological conditions. The walking task was with (N = 4) and without (N = 21) obstacles and in laboratory (N = 21) or ecological conditions (N = 7). The quality scores were 6-8/16 for eight studies, 9-12/16 for seven studies, and more than 12/16 for three studies. During the "texting + gait" tasks, the meta-analysis highlighted a significant impairment of gait speed, step and stride length, cadence, and double and single support (p < 0.05). The spatiotemporal parameters of gait were systematically altered during the texting task regardless of the population and test conditions. However, the quality of the studies is moderate, and few studies have been conducted for people with motor deficiencies. The impact of texting on walking should be better considered to develop prevention actions.