Two-handed grip on a mobile phone affords greater thumb motor performance, decreased variability, and a more extended thumb posture than a one-handed grip

Details

• Personal Author:
  Asakawa DS ; Dennerlein, Jack T. ; Jindrich DL ; Trudeau MB
• Description:
  Holding a mobile computing device with two hands may affect thumb motor performance, joint postures, and device stability compared to holding the device and tapping the touchscreen with the thumb of the holding hand. We tested the hypotheses that holding a touchscreen mobile phone with two hands lead to increased thumb motor performance, different thumb postures, and decreased device movement relative to using one hand. Ten right-handed participants completed reciprocal thumb tapping tasks between emulated keys on a smartphone in either a one- (portrait) or two-handed (landscape) grip configuration. Effective index of performance measured from Fitts' Law was 9% greater (p < 0.001), movement time 7% faster (p < 0.001), and taps were 4% more precise (p < 0.016) for the two-handed grip. Tapping with a two-handed grip involved significantly different wrist and thumb postures than a one-handed grip. Variability of the computing device's movement was 36-63% lower for the two-handed grip compared to the one-handed grip condition (p < 0.001). The support for our hypotheses suggests that a two-handed grip results in increased performance and more extended wrist and thumb postures than a single-handed grip. Device designs that allow two-handed grips may afford increased performance relative to a one-handed grip. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Computers Cumulative Trauma Disorders Electrical Equipment And Supplies Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Mobile Computing Biomechanics Computer-equipment Cumulative-trauma Cumulative-trauma-disorders Electronic-devices Equipment-design Fitts Law Hand-injuries Humans Keyboard-operators Motion-studies Muscle-function Muscle-stress Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Neuromotor-activity Office-equipment Performance-capability Physiological-measurements Physiological-testing Posture Repetitive-work Repetitive Stress Task-performance

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• ISSN:
  0003-6870
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  24-28
• Volume:
  52
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047181
• Citation:
  Appl Ergon 2016 Jan; 52:24-28
• Contact Point Address:
  Deanna S. Asakawa, Department of Kinesiology, California State University, San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd., University Hall 302, San Marcos, CA 92096, USA
• Email:
  dasakawa@csusm.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard University School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070301
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20120228
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8e4a7b91c39ae078263724bc7adb270a61acdbf8158dbaf6494984e7628ddd23105f86ffbc008b4f1289e28ad2955b08d7a23d2a50fb0e5d3a4bded5069d50a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202344/cdc_202344_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 425.18 KB ]