Health Behavior
Conditions
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.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALbeacon alerts
alerts via unidirectional communication from beacons to smartphones when smartphones are approaching pedestrian crossing at activated intersection
BEHAVIORALno alerts retention
no alerts will appear, but we will measure retention of behavior learned during the active intervention stage
Sponsors
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 25 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
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
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted | 12 weeks | percentage of street-crossings participants is distracted while crossing streets in intersections involved in the study, as measured electronically by smartphone behavior near those intersections. Electronic measurement was based on x-y-z coordinates of the smartphone during the crossing, as assessed and stored in the participants' phone storage. |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Pre-assignment details
437 individuals enrolled and 385 crossed the street at least once during the protocol, suggesting they participated. The numbers do not add up since it is a crossover trial.
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| All Study Participants baseline - participants do not receive any alerts on their mobile smartphone when near intersections
active intervention - participants are receiving alerts to warn them about distracted pedestrian behavior near intersections (beacon alerts: alerts via unidirectional communication from beacons to smartphones when smartphones are approaching pedestrian crossing at activated intersection)
retention phase - alerts have stopped after active intervention and behavior is monitored to test retention of learned behavior (no alerts retention: no alerts will appear, but we will measure retention of behavior learned during the active intervention stage) | 437 |
| Total | 437 |
Withdrawals & dropouts
| Period | Reason | FG000 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Study | Protocol Violation | 52 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | All Study Participants |
|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 25.2 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 9.6 |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized African American/Black | 117 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Asian/Pacific Islander | 88 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Hispanic | 25 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Native American/American Indian/Alaskan Native | 4 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized Other/Biracial/Biethnic/Prefer not to respond | 25 Participants |
| Race/Ethnicity, Customized White | 178 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 437 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 287 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 144 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk | EG002 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 | 0 / 385 |
Outcome results
Primary
Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted
percentage of street-crossings participants is distracted while crossing streets in intersections involved in the study, as measured electronically by smartphone behavior near those intersections. Electronic measurement was based on x-y-z coordinates of the smartphone during the crossing, as assessed and stored in the participants' phone storage.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Population: Participants who crossed the street at least once during study protocol; crossover trial and all participants completed phases in the same order with no alerts baseline first, beacon alerts second, and no alerts retention third
| Arm | Measure | Value (NUMBER) |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon Alerts | Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted | 75 per cent of crossings distracted |
| no Alerts Baseline | Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted | 74 per cent of crossings distracted |
| no Alerts Retention | Percentage of Street Crossings Distracted | 74 per cent of crossings distracted |