INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SMARTPHONE USE AND BALANCE AND VISUAL ACUITY PERFORMANCE IN ADULTS
1Gazi Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Odyoloji Bölümü, Ankara, Türkiye2Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Odyoloji Bölümü, Ankara, Türkiye
3Lokman Hekim Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Odyoloji Bölümü, Ankara, Türkiye Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the negative effects of smartphone use on balance from different perspectives by examining visual acuity skills.
Materials and Methods: Forty-three healthy young adults (29 male, 14 female) were included in this study. It was taken into consideration that the participants included in the study did not have any neurological, vestibular, visual, orthopedic disease history. Sensory Organization Test (SOT), Static Visual Acuity Test (SVA), Minimum Perception Time Test (MPT) and Dynamic Visual Acuity Test (DVA) were applied to the participants via Computerized Dynamic Posturography.
Results: A statistically significant moderate degree correlation was observed between the screen sizes of the participants' smartphones and SOT condition 3 (p=0.02). A statistically significant low-degree correlation was observed between the screen sizes and MPT (p= 0.049). In addition, a statistically significant correlation was observed between the screen sizes and the DVA findings in the up, left roll, and right roll planes (p values; 0.006, 0.04, 0.002, respectively). A statistically significant correlation was observed between the total usage time and the SVA findings (p= 0.006).
Conclusion: Visual acuity skills may be affected by smartphone use. Future studies can document the effects of smartphone use in larger sample groups and in wider age ranges.
Keywords : Smartphone, static visual acuity, dynamic visual acuity, balance