Assessment of dual-tasking during a dynamic balance task using a smartphone app: a pilot study

[Purpose] To assess if the instrumented Timed Up and Go (iTUG) task score calculated with an iPhone application can detect gait changes under dual-tasking conditions. [Participants and Methods] Twenty participants (age 38.30 ± 12.54, 12 females) were asked to complete the TUG as a single task and under two dual-tasking conditions: 1) verbal fluency and 2) mental calculation. We used a smartphone, stopwatch, digital camera, and wearable sensor to calculate the dependent variables which included time, step count, gait speed, and iTUG score and, the dual-tasking cost (DTC) of those variables. We used Friedman analyses of variance and Wilcoxon tests for statistical analyses. [Results] the iTUG score, step count, gait speed, and the time measured by the stopwatch and wearable sensor differed significantly for all tasks, but the smartphone time did not. [Conclusion] We conclude that the iTUG score could be used as a sensitive measure for identifying gait changes under dual-tasking conditions. With the growing demands of telehealth, using technology as an objective tool for movement analysis is needed for clinicians and payers. Our findings demonstrate the potential value of the iTUG score to assess and track patient’s progress.