To Study the Effect of Smartphone Multitasking on Dynamic Balance in Young Adults

Abstract

The objectives of this research was to see how using smartphone functions during gait affected dynamicbalance. From a university, a sample of 100 subjects was taken. Four types of gait tasks were given:General Gait (to walk without any task); Task Gait 1 (to walk while chatting through text); Task Gait2 (to walk while web surfing and hearing music) and Task Gait 3 (to walk while playing an onlinemultiplayer videogame). The conditions were the same for all the experiments. The subjects usedearphones for listening to music and having conversation during games. The sequence of tasks wasnot done in systematic manner. The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test was used to assess dynamic balance.After three repetitions of the tasks, the mean of the measured values was analysed. In the TUG tests,there were statistically significant unfavourable differences. Use of smartphone features during walkingaffects dynamic balance of a person. As a result, when ambulating, using various features of a cellphone may result in falls and injuries.