Watch your step: A pilot study of smartphone use effect on young females' gait performance while walking up and down stairs and escalators.

Autor: Lai X; Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China., Lee YC; Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan. Electronic address: yclee@ntut.edu.tw., Hong X; School of Design, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China., Rau PP; Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Applied ergonomics [Appl Ergon] 2024 Jan; Vol. 114, pp. 104130. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 30.
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104130
Abstrakt: The increasingly ubiquitous use of smartphones has made distracted walking common, not only on flat ground, but also on stairs. Available information regarding changes in gait performance while walking and using a smartphone in different environments is still lacking. We aimed to investigate the differences in gait behavior and subjective walking confidence while walking up and down stairs and escalators, with and without smartphone use. A field experiment involving 32 female adults was conducted at a subway station. Gait parameters collected included step frequency, acceleration root mean square, step variability, step regularity, and step symmetry. The results showed that walking task, walking environment, and walking direction significantly affected gait performance and walking confidence. Overall, playing games or texting while walking down escalators resulted in the lowest walking confidence and the largest gait performance decrement: slower step frequency; reduced root mean square; decreased step regularity and step symmetry; and increased step variability. Step frequency, step variability, and step regularity significantly correlated with walking confidence. Smartphone use while walking on stairs and escalators significantly affects gait behavior and might increase the risk of falls. Interventions and prevention are needed to increase safety education and hazard warnings for the general population.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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