Objective: To investigate spatiotemporal gait parameters in older adults with and without cognitive decline while walking in the presence of smartphone use.

Background: The use of smartphones while walking has become a common phenomenon in modern society. Previous studies have shown that dividing attention between two simultaneous tasks may affect gait and increase the risk of falls. This scenario is exacerbated by age, when movement disorders and cognitive decline are more prevalent. However, studies examining older adults with and without cognitive decline are still limited, leaving unanswered questions about the role of cognition in walking while talking or texting on a phone.

Method: 51 community-dwelling older adults, 30 cognitively preserved (Age: 65.6±5.7 years; Mini-Mental State Examination score: 29.0±0.9; Frontal Assessment Battery score: 15.1±2.2) and 21 with Mild Cognitive Impairment (Age: 68.0±7.0 years; Mini-Mental State Examination score: 22.2±1.4; Frontal Assessment Battery score: 12.2±2.9) were subjected to three walking tasks: walking alone, walking while answering a phone call, and walking while texting messages. The order of the tasks was randomized. The variables assessed included time to perform the task and number of steps. Repeated measures analysis of variance was applied to verify the main effects of tasks, cognition, and interactions.

Results: Dual tasking with a smartphone had a negative impact on both groups (main effect of task: p = 0.001 for both time and number of steps). The negative impact was similar between participants who were cognitively preserved and those with Mild Cognitive Impairment, refuting the authors’ hypothesis (main effect of group: p = 0.378 for time and p = 0.647 for number of steps; group × task effect: p = 0.229 for time and p = 0.196 for number of steps) [table 1].

Conclusion: The negative impact of using a smartphone while walking was similar between groups. The cognitive decline observed in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment was not sufficient to increase the dual-task cost of using a smartphone while performing walking tasks similar to daily activities.

Table 1. Impact of dual task with a smartphone

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dual-task-cost-of-walking-while-using-a-smartphone-a-comparison-study-of-older-adults-with-and-without-cognitive-decline/