title: Cellular telephone use during free-living walking significantly reduces average walking speed.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cellular telephone (cell phone) use decreases walking speed in controlled laboratory experiments and there is an inverse relationship between free-living walking speed and heart failure risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of cell phone use on walking speed in a free-living environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects (n = 1142) were randomly observed walking on a 50 m University campus walkway. The time it took each subject to walk 50 m was recorded and subjects were coded into categories: cell phone held to the ear (talking, n = 95), holding and looking at the cell phone (texting, n = 118), not visibly using the cell phone (no use, n = 929).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects took significantly (p < 0.001) longer traversing the walkway when talking (39.3 s) and texting (37.9 s) versus no use (35.3 s).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As was the case with the previous laboratory experiments, cell phone use significantly reduces average speed during free-living walking.
authors.affiliation: College of Education, Health and Human Services, Kent State University, White Hall, Kent, OH, 44242-000, USA. jbarkle1@kent.edu.
authors.forename: Jacob E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Barkley
authors.affiliation: College of Education, Health and Human Services, Kent State University, White Hall, Kent, OH, 44242-000, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lepp
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012108:Research Personnel; D000072797:Walking Speed / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Exercise; Mobile phones; Physical activity; Walking