Class
Article
College
College of Science
Department
Biology Department
Faculty Mentor
Sara Harper
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Stairs can be a concern for injury, with falls negatively impacting one’s health. A proposed strategy to reduce fall risk during stair negotiation involves enhancing the visual contrast of stairs, or adding clear demarcations of where the stairs begin and end. Stair negotiation walk speed (m/s), may provide insight on the visual contrast striping effects. In addition, distractions such as mobile phone use during stair negotiation could increase fall risk, and may alter handrail risk. Therefore our secondary (fall risk – primary) objectives were to determine if: (1) if staircase striping would increase walk speed, and (2) if mobile phone distractions would decrease person’s handrail use. Our sample consisted of college students at Utah State University using two staircases. Four motion sensor security cameras recorded students’ ascent and descent stair negotiation. In one staircase, alternating 5.5 cm black and white stripes were placed perpendicular on the stair face on the first and last steps. On the descending side, a black stripe was placed on the edge parallel of every descending step. Data collection included walk speed (m/s), handrail proximity (m), handrail use, and distractions (mobile phone use, holding phone only, no mobile phone use). Preliminary data was analyzed via an univariate analysis of variances. Our results suggest that stair striping does not appear to alter walk speed during stair negotiation, while mobile phone distractions do alter handrail use during stair negotiation. Within our college sample, the students may be less likely to benefit from visual contrast striping compared to more vulnerable populations. Ultimately, decreased handrail use while distracted (e.g., mobile phone use) may prevent successful handrail reaches if an impeding fall does occur.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-12-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Secondary Effects of Stair Striping on Stair Negotiation
Logan, UT
Stairs can be a concern for injury, with falls negatively impacting one’s health. A proposed strategy to reduce fall risk during stair negotiation involves enhancing the visual contrast of stairs, or adding clear demarcations of where the stairs begin and end. Stair negotiation walk speed (m/s), may provide insight on the visual contrast striping effects. In addition, distractions such as mobile phone use during stair negotiation could increase fall risk, and may alter handrail risk. Therefore our secondary (fall risk – primary) objectives were to determine if: (1) if staircase striping would increase walk speed, and (2) if mobile phone distractions would decrease person’s handrail use. Our sample consisted of college students at Utah State University using two staircases. Four motion sensor security cameras recorded students’ ascent and descent stair negotiation. In one staircase, alternating 5.5 cm black and white stripes were placed perpendicular on the stair face on the first and last steps. On the descending side, a black stripe was placed on the edge parallel of every descending step. Data collection included walk speed (m/s), handrail proximity (m), handrail use, and distractions (mobile phone use, holding phone only, no mobile phone use). Preliminary data was analyzed via an univariate analysis of variances. Our results suggest that stair striping does not appear to alter walk speed during stair negotiation, while mobile phone distractions do alter handrail use during stair negotiation. Within our college sample, the students may be less likely to benefit from visual contrast striping compared to more vulnerable populations. Ultimately, decreased handrail use while distracted (e.g., mobile phone use) may prevent successful handrail reaches if an impeding fall does occur.