Smartphone use during ambulation and pedestrian trauma: a public health concern

Smartphone ownership among the American populace has more than doubled over the past decade. Despite significant improvements in global connectivity and accessibility of information associated with smartphone technology, there has been a concurrent rise in pedestrian traumas secondary to smartphone-related distracted behaviors over the same time period. The prevalence of smartphone-related distraction among ambulating pedestrians, the impact of smartphone-related distracted ambulation on gait, attention, and cognition, and the most common mechanisms of injury resulting from distracted ambulation have been well-established in the literature. However, there are critical knowledge gaps regarding the incidence of injuries and fatalities due to smartphone-related distracted ambulation. Patterns of injury and increased risk of injury due to distracted ambulation are also unknown. There have been a paucity of interventional and legislative efforts to combat smartphone-related distracted ambulation. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding the impact of distracted behaviors on pedestrian trauma and discusses interventional and legislative efforts to minimize the risk of cellphone-related injuries. Evidence level V Study type Prognostic and epidemiological Corresponding Author: David H. Song, MD, MBA, Region Chief, MedStar Plastic Surgery, Professor and Chairman, Department of Plastic Surgery, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, David.H.Song@MedStar.net, Phone: 202-444-8751, Fax: 866-990-5516 Conflicts of Interest Statement: There are no financial disclosures, commercial associations, or any other conditions posing a conflict of interest to report for any of the above authors. © 2018 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

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