Clinical trial NCT03604497: Using Bluetooth Beacon Technology to Reduce Distracted Pedestrian Behavior
Official title: Using Bluetooth Beacon Technology to Reduce Distracted Pedestrian Behavior
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Health Behavior
Lead sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
name: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
First posted: 2018-07-27
Enrollment: 437
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 25
Standard ages: ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Over 4,800 American pedestrians die annually, a figure that is current increasing. One hypothesized reason for the increasing trend in pedestrian injuries and deaths is the role of mobile technology in distracting both pedestrians and drivers. The investigators propose to develop and then evaluate Bluetooth beacon technology as a means to alert and warn pedestrians when they are approaching dangerous intersections, reminding them to attend to the traffic environment and cross the street safely rather than engaging with mobile technology. One aspect of the research will involve a crossover research trial to evaluate efficacy of the program.

Bluetooth beacons are very small (about the size of a dime) and inexpensive (\~$20 range) devices that broadcast information unidirectionally (beacon to smartphone) within a closed proximal network. The investigators propose placing beacons at intersection corners (e.g., on signposts) frequently trafficked by urban college students. The beacons will transmit to an app installed on users' smartphones, signaling users to attend to their environment and cross the street safely. The app will be developed to be flexible based on user preferences; for research purposes, the app also will download data concerning the users' behavior while crossing the street. The crossover trial will evaluate the app with a sample of about 411 young adults whose behavior is monitored for: (a) 3 weeks without the app being activated, (b) 3 weeks with the app activated, and then (c) 6 weeks without the app activated to assess retention of behavior. Throughout the 12 week period, the investigators will monitor user behavior at multiple intersections around campus, along with gathering self-report questionnaire perceptions and behavior at baseline and 12-week post-intervention assessments.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* individuals who cross streets on the UAB campus at least twice daily
* ownership of an Android phone
* willingness to install the app on phone
* ability to communicate in English

Exclusion Criteria:

* none

Primary outcomes:
measure: Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted
timeFrame: 12 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Birmingham
country: United States
facility: UAB Youth Safety Lab, University of Alabama at Birmingham
state: Alabama
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham
name: David C Schwebel, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: