Changes in cognitive load and effects on parameters of gait

Reading or texting with a mobile phone while walking requires cognitive resource allocation and consequently induces changes in gait. Fifty-six young adults walked along the GAITRite© walkway under baseline, low-, and high-cognitive loads. Participants' Functional Ambulation Profile (FAP), velo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCogent psychology Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 1372872
Main Authors Oh, Chorong, LaPointe, Leonard L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Cogent 31.12.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Cellular telephones
Cognitive load
cognitive resource allocation
dual task
Gait
gait changes
injurious falls
Walking
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Reading or texting with a mobile phone while walking requires cognitive resource allocation and consequently induces changes in gait. Fifty-six young adults walked along the GAITRite© walkway under baseline, low-, and high-cognitive loads. Participants' Functional Ambulation Profile (FAP), velocity, and stride length decreased while double-support time increased under higher cognitive load. This result shows that during cognitively loaded multitasking conditions participants are unable to stabilize their gait. In addition, lower FAP scores across the conditions suggest an increased risk for future injurious falls. This study demonstrates that distracted walking using a mobile phone can affect several parameters of gait and it would be prudent to not read or text on a mobile phone while walking.
ISSN:2331-1908
2331-1908
DOI:10.1080/23311908.2017.1372872