HU OTD Students Publish Series of Studies on Mobile Technology

How many hours per day do you spend using your smartphone? If you are like the typical American adult, it’s around 2.5 hours. This was a primary finding of a research study recently completed by HU OTD students Alex Cool, Ariana Delay, Ali Lannom, Laryn O’Donnell, and Ruth Stuber.

Additionally, the study provided an operational definition of “mobile tech posture,” or the position of the upper body when interacting with a mobile device, through the use of goniometry. Of concern, the neck and elbows are typically flexed and the wrist is deviated as the thumb rapidly taps the screen to send a text or surf the internet. This prolonged position and repetitive motion may contribute to musculoskeletal imbalance or cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) of the upper extremity such thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), cubital tunnel syndrome, or De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (aka texting thumb).

A concurrent study led by OTD students Madison Blair, Chloe Crowell, Abby Loewenstein, Annie Lynch, Ravina Nakum, and Allyson Warner positively identified symptoms of upper extremity CTDs in more than 50% of study participants among a sample of healthy young adults. This trend is concerning as mobile technology is being integrated into daily life at a younger age, potentially predisposing young adults to musculoskeletal issues that are typically not encountered until middle age.

The combined findings of the studies encourage further critical analysis of the impact of mobile technology on daily life and highlight an important societal trend which may impact public health.

Congratulations to our students, whose work has been accepted for publication in the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy and Hand Therapy (U.K.), respectively. An additional study using sonographic imaging to investigate the impact of mobile tech posture on the sub-acromial space has also been submitted to a related journal.

Posted By: Nathan Short