• PNF and Movement
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.261-267
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate changes in gait variables depending on whether a task was performed using a smartphone while walking on a ramp. Methods: The participants of this study were 41 college students attending U University located in Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk-do. In this study, gait variables were measured during ramp gait while using a smartphone to perform a task and during ramp gait without performing such tasks. In other words, four walking conditions were used: 1) walking up a ramp, 2) walking up a ramp while using a smartphone to perform a task, 3) walking down a ramp, and 4) walking down a ramp while using a smart phone to perform a task. Gait variables were measured using a gait analysis tool (Legsys; BioSensics, USA), and stride time, stride length, stride velocity, cadence, and double support were analyzed. The order of measurements was randomized to control for order effects due to repeated measurements. Results: The comparative analysis of gait variables according to the presence or absence of smartphone use during ramp gait showed that there were significant differences in stride time, stride length, and stride velocity during both ramp ascent and ramp descent (p < 0.05). In both ramp ascent and ramp descent, stride time increased when walking using a smartphone, compared to when walking without using a smartphone (p < 0.05). However, in both ramp ascent and ramp descent, stride length and stride velocity were decreased when walking using a smartphone compared to when walking without using a smartphone (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study results showed that the use of a smartphone during walking can affect safety. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the awareness of risks associated with walking while using a smartphone, and further research needs to be conducted in various environments and with different ramps.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.561-569
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• 2016

Purpose : We will clarify the situation of using a smartphone and what kind of factors are currently related when people use a smartphone while doing something else in order to obtain basic information to educate people to prevent the use of smartphone while doing something else. Methods : We conducted an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey with 885 people who commuted by train to six companies located in Tokyo, Chiba, and Osaka and 550 university students who commuted by train to five universities located in the same areas. The research period was from April to May of 2014. Results : 33% of the subjects used a feature phone and 73% of the subjects used a smartphone. 38% of them listened to music, using their smartphones or feature phones while walking. Binominal logistic regression analysis was done with dependent variables of using a smartphone while walking and independent variables of age, sex, and educational advertisement. The results showed that people in their 20s used a smartphone while walking 4.93 times more than people in their 30s(p <0.00). No significant difference was found in the relationship between sex and educational advertisement(poster, TV, or magazine) and using a smatphone while doing something else.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 2015

Purpose: The accelerometer is a tool for evaluating walking by the displacement of the center of mass (COM) in the body. Recently, smartphones have added an accelerometer app, and it can be used to evaluate outcomemanures in rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the COM in the bodies of normal persons and stroke patients using this smartphone application while walking. Methods: Twenty normal persons and twenty-two stroke patients were recruited and had their COM measured using G-walk and the smartphone application, SMAP, during 10 m walking. Subjects repeated the 10 m of walking 3 times, and we used the SMAP, Accelerometer Monitor ver. 1.5.0, to evaluate COM during the walk. To measure the displacement of COM, we used the difference in value between the maximal angle and the minimum anterior-posterior (AP), mediolateral (ML), and rotational angles during the walk. Results: For the normal persons, there was significant correlation between the AP and AP of SMAP, and was also a significant correlation between rotational angle and the ML of SMAP. In the stroke patients, there was significant correlation between AP and ML, and the rotational angle of SMAP. Conclusion: Our research results suggest that if the SMAP system is reinforced in the case of patients who have a greater displacement of COM, it may be used as an evaluation tool during walking.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.74-82
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• 2017

This study was conducted to test the impacts of distractions caused by smartphones on pedestrians whilst walking alongside or across vehicular traffic in a high-density urban zone in South Korea. Through this study, we propose objective evidence for a link between the risk of traffic accidents and distractions from smartphones for pedestrians because of less likely notice activities surrounding road along their walking. This means that smartphones usage may cause inattentional blindness even during a simple activity that should require few cognitive resources. We conducted an experiment comparing pedestrian behavioral patterns of walking with smartphone distractions (such as listening to music with earphones or sending text messages) and normal walking without any distractions. In the experiment, participants walked along a pedestrian path prescribed by researchers and were observed at 8 points which were as follows: two observation points through which participants were instructed to listen to music whilst walking, two points where participants were instructed to send text messages, and four points through which participants were instructed not to use a smartphone at all. According to pedestrian behavior analysis, there is a trend for attention to be distributed amongst whatever other activities pedestrians are doing whilst walking. Therefore, this study proposes that pedestrians walking with such distractions are at a higher risk of traffic accidents compared to those who walk without such distractions. Thus, we advise for the South Korean government to consider ways to traffic policy that will enhance traffic safety for pedestrians.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2015

Objective: This study was conducted to test the effects of mobile texting and gaming on gait with obstructions under different illumination levels. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twelve healthy adults aged 20 to 36 years (mean 23.5 years) were tested under six different conditions. All participants used touchscreen smartphones. Testing conditions included: 1) Walking with an obstruction under a bright illumination level; 2) walking with an obstruction with a low level of illumination; 3) walking with an obstruction while texting under a bright illumination level; 4) walking with an obstruction while texting with a low level of illumination; 5) walking with an obstruction while gaming under a bright illumination level; and 6) walking with an obstruction while gaming with a low level of illumination. All participants were asked to text the Korean national anthem by their own phone and play Temple Run 2 using an iPhone 5. Gait variances were measured over a distance of 3 m, and the mean value after three trials was used. A gait analyzer was used to measure the data. Results: Compared to normal gait with obstruction, gait speed, step length, stride length, step time, stride time, cadence while texting and gaming showed significant differences (p<0.05). Differences between the illumination levels included gait speed, step length, stride length, and step time (p<0.05) with no significant differences in stride time and cadence. Conclusions: Dual-tasking using a smartphone under low levels of illumination lowers the quality of gait with obstructions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2023

PURPOSE: This study examined the effect of using a smartphone according to the direction of wearing a bag on muscle characteristics and balance ability in adults in their 20s with chronic ankle instability. METHODS: Twelve people with chronic ankle instability were examined for three weeks. The types of carrying a bag were classified into three conditions: to the right, to the left, and on both sides. The muscle characteristics and balance ability were measured and analyzed. The one-way ANOVA was used to obtain a difference between conditions. RESULTS: A significant difference in the muscle tone of medial gastrocnemius was observed between the dominant group and the non-dominant group. The muscle tone and stiffness of the peroneus longus decreased significantly after walking with a smartphone and carrying a bag. The maximum slope of the forward and reverse directions increased and decreased significantly, respectively, after walking with a smartphone and carrying a bag on both sides. CONCLUSION: In this study, muscle fatigue causes a decrease in muscle tone and stiffness with chronic ankle instability when carrying a heavy back while walking, and there were asymmetric changes in the balance ability. Therefore, adults with chronic ankle instability should carefully avoid carrying a heavy bag for extended times, irrespective of the style or type of the bag.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.133-138
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• 2019

The indoor navigation system using smart phone is a very important infrastructure technology for users' location based services in large indoor facilities. For this purpose, if the user can estimate the movement distance and direction by using the acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor built in the smartphone, the additional external environment is not necessary, which is a very useful technique. This paper deals with indoor navigation system technology that uses Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) technology and Kalman filter on a general smartphone and allows the user to trace the position while moving the smartphone in front of his chest. In particular, an extended Kalman filter was designed to estimate the direction of movement, and its performance was verified when walking at a constant speed.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.79-85
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate utilization behaviors of smartphones while walking that are increasing recently and to examine the effects of smartphone usage patterns on human factors of pedestrian safety. In order to understand the motives and actual conditions of pedestrians' use of smart phones, a online questionnaire survey was conducted on people in their 20~30s who use smartphones. As a result, 98.6% of the respondents had experience using smartphones while walking. After performing the survey by extracting 17 uses the synchronization elements in the prior studies was extracted with two factors from the factor analysis. Particularly, respondents whose motivation to use smartphones was 'pandemic' were analyzed to have an influence on the risk of accident due to use of smartphones among human factors of pedestrian safety.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.99-108
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of the confusion level in performing dual tasks using smartphones while walking in subjects with chronic ankle instability (CAI). METHODS: Twenty subjects with CAI and 20 healthy subjects participated in the study. The spatial, temporal, spatial-temporal, and variability gait parameters were measured using GAITRite under four different conditions: general gait, web surfing during gait, texting during gait, and gaming during gait. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the interaction according to the group (2) and confusion level in dual-tasks (4). One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare the changes within the group according to the confusion level in dual-tasks. The changes between groups were compared using an independent t-test. The statistical significance level was set to p = .05. RESULTS: Significant interactions in the temporal and spatial-temporal gait parameters were found between the dual-task conditions and the other groups (p < .05). Significant within-group differences in the spatial, temporal, and spatial-temporal gait parameters were found according to the confusion level in dual tasks (p < .05). Significant between-group differences were observed in the temporal and spatial-temporal gait parameters according to the confusion level in dual tasks (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The effect of the confusion level in dual tasks was greater in subjects with CAI than in healthy individuals. This study suggests that to prevent reinjury to the ankle, subjects with CAI should avoid dual tasks such as using smartphones while walking.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2023

Purpose : Using a smartphone while walking districts attention and increases the risk of losing balance or falling. Ankle instability is caused by decreased muscle strength and decreased neuromuscular ability leading to postural control problems. Dual tasks increases the risk of falls by reducing postural control in adults with ankle instability. This study aimed to investigate the effect of performing a dual task on balance and muscle activity in adults with ankle instability using a smartphone. Methods : Forty-nine individuals with ankle instability participated in this study. A game of finding the wrong picture was performed using a smartphone in the dual task, and only looking at the blank screen of a smartphone was evaluated in the single task. The participants randomly performed single and dual task to evalutate balance and muscle atcitivy. Balance was evaluated using the Biodex balance system (BBS), and muscle activity was evaluated using surface EMG. Muscle activity of the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior was measured at the same time as balance. Results : The results of this study showed that overall, anteior/posterior, and medial/lateral balance indices all showed significant differences when performing the dual task compared with those during the single task (p<.05). The muscle activity results showed a significant difference compared with that of the gastronemius muscle on the nondominant side during the dual task (p>.05). Conclusion : The results of this study showed that maintaining balance is more difficult when performing the dual task than during the single task, and only the muscle activity of the nondominant gastrocnemius muscle decreased. The dual task causes a decrease in concentration for postural control, which negatively affects postural stability. Individuals with ankle ankle instability should refrain from performing dual tasks, such as using smartphones, to prevent ankle damage.