The effects of texting and cell phone use on gait in the older adult and youth

Pages: 253-257
Chang-hoon Gong (Geriatric Health Clinic and Research Institute, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea)
Youngbo Sim (College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington Vermont, USA)
Kunwoo Park (Geriatric Health Clinic and Research Institute Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea)

With the increasing use and integration of cell phones into everyday life for people across all age groups, there is growing concern on pedestrian safety. In order to address such concerns, gait patterns were analyzed between two groups of participants: youth and older adults, under four separate conditions: Normal gait, gait while texting, gait while listening to music, and gait while both texting and listening to music. Texting and listening to music were the tasks specifically chosen because they are the most commonly used functions of cell phones and mirrored common everyday situations for the average cell phone user while walking 60 meters. Gait patterns were analyzed using the LEGSys system, a portable gait analysis system. It was found that there were significant differences between the youth and older adult groups gait parameters in only the conditions that involved texting. Especially, we found out meaningful variance in stride time (s), stride length (m) and stride velocity (m/s) between analysis groups. These results suggest the need and direction for future policy changes to better inform users of the potential hazards of cell phone use while walking and ultimately discourage such use to prevent associated injuries, accidents, and even deaths.