Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives
Smartphone texting while walking is a very common activity among people of different ages, with the so-called “digital natives” being the category most used to interacting with an electronic device during daily activities, mostly for texting purposes. Previous studies have shown how the concurrency...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00187/full |
| _version_ | 1819020539265548288 |
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| author | Carlotta Caramia Carmen D'Anna Simone Ranaldi Maurizio Schmid Silvia Conforto |
| author_facet | Carlotta Caramia Carmen D'Anna Simone Ranaldi Maurizio Schmid Silvia Conforto |
| author_sort | Carlotta Caramia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Smartphone texting while walking is a very common activity among people of different ages, with the so-called “digital natives” being the category most used to interacting with an electronic device during daily activities, mostly for texting purposes. Previous studies have shown how the concurrency of a smartphone-related task and walking can result in a worsening of stability and an increased risk of injuries for adults; an investigation of whether this effect can be identified also in people of a younger age can improve our understanding of the risks associated with this common activity. In this study, we recruited 29 young adolescents (12 ± 1 years) to test whether walking with a smartphone increases fall and injuries risk, and to quantify this effect. To do so, participants were asked to walk along a walkway, with and without the concurrent writing task on a smartphone; several different parameters linked to stability and risk of fall measures were then calculated from an inertial measurement unit and compared between conditions. Smartphone use determined a reduction of spatio-temporal parameters, including step length (from 0.64 ± 0.08 to 0.55 ± 0.06 m) and gait speed (1.23 ± 0.16 to 0.90 ± 0.16 m/s), and a general worsening of selected indicators of gait stability. This was found to be mostly independent from experience or frequency of use, suggesting that the presence of smartphone activities while walking may determine an increased risk of injury or falls also for a population that grew up being used to this concurrency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:52:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-795db5841b7a4bb899eff45b565d363d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T03:52:49Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-795db5841b7a4bb899eff45b565d363d2022-12-21T19:16:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652020-06-01810.3389/fpubh.2020.00187521020Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital NativesCarlotta CaramiaCarmen D'AnnaSimone RanaldiMaurizio SchmidSilvia ConfortoSmartphone texting while walking is a very common activity among people of different ages, with the so-called “digital natives” being the category most used to interacting with an electronic device during daily activities, mostly for texting purposes. Previous studies have shown how the concurrency of a smartphone-related task and walking can result in a worsening of stability and an increased risk of injuries for adults; an investigation of whether this effect can be identified also in people of a younger age can improve our understanding of the risks associated with this common activity. In this study, we recruited 29 young adolescents (12 ± 1 years) to test whether walking with a smartphone increases fall and injuries risk, and to quantify this effect. To do so, participants were asked to walk along a walkway, with and without the concurrent writing task on a smartphone; several different parameters linked to stability and risk of fall measures were then calculated from an inertial measurement unit and compared between conditions. Smartphone use determined a reduction of spatio-temporal parameters, including step length (from 0.64 ± 0.08 to 0.55 ± 0.06 m) and gait speed (1.23 ± 0.16 to 0.90 ± 0.16 m/s), and a general worsening of selected indicators of gait stability. This was found to be mostly independent from experience or frequency of use, suggesting that the presence of smartphone activities while walking may determine an increased risk of injury or falls also for a population that grew up being used to this concurrency.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00187/fullsmartphone usetextingadolescentsgait parametersrisk of injury |
| spellingShingle | Carlotta Caramia Carmen D'Anna Simone Ranaldi Maurizio Schmid Silvia Conforto Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives Frontiers in Public Health smartphone use texting adolescents gait parameters risk of injury |
| title | Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives |
| title_full | Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives |
| title_fullStr | Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives |
| title_short | Smartphone-Based Answering to School Subject Questions Alters Gait in Young Digital Natives |
| title_sort | smartphone based answering to school subject questions alters gait in young digital natives |
| topic | smartphone use texting adolescents gait parameters risk of injury |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00187/full |
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