In daily activities, people often perform two or more tasks simultaneously. This is referred to as dual-tasking or multi-tasking. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of performing dual tasks while using a mobile phone on static and dynamic postural stability. Twenty-four subjects were asked to stand on a force plate and then instructed to perform a balance task only (BT), a balance task while listening to music (BTL), a balance task while talking on the mobile phone (BTT), and a balance task while sending text messages (BTS). We used the BioRescue to measure postural sway and limit of stability for static and dynamic postural stability. Also the star excursion balance test (SEBT) was used to measure dynamic postural stability. A one-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to compare the effects of the BT, BTL, BTT, and BTS. The Bonferroni's post hoc test was used to determine the differences among four tasks. Carrying out the BTS significantly decreased the limit of stability compared with carrying out the BT, BTL, and BTT (p<.05). In limit of stability, total surface area of BTT was more significantly decreased than that of BT and total surface area of BTS was more decreased than that of BT, BTL and BTT (p<.05). In the SEBT, the BTS displayed significantly smaller reach distance values compared with the BT or BTL (p<.05). These findings suggest that performing the balance task while sending text message on the mobile phone decreases dynamic postural stability, whereas performing the same task while listening to music using the mobile phone does not. Therefore, it requires more attention to maintain dynamic balance while sending text messages.

• 원종임(전주대학교 대체의학대학 물리치료학과) | Jong-im Won 통신저자