Using Bluetooth Beacon Technology to Reduce Distracted Pedestrian Behavior

Health Behavior Clinical Trial

Official title:

Using Bluetooth Beacon Technology to Reduce Distracted Pedestrian Behavior

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03604497
• Other study ID #: R21HD095270
• Secondary ID: R21HD095270
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 15, 2019
• Est. completion date: December 21, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: November 2020
• Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 437
• Est. completion date: December 21, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: December 21, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 25 Years

Eligibility

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Health Behavior

Intervention

Behavioral:
• beacon alerts
alerts via unidirectional communication from beacons to smartphones when smartphones are approaching pedestrian crossing at activated intersection
• no alerts retention
no alerts will appear, but we will measure retention of behavior learned during the active intervention stage

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	UAB Youth Safety Lab, University of Alabama at Birmingham	Birmingham	Alabama

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Alabama at Birmingham	Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
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.	12 weeks