A Phone App to Reduce Cell Phone Usage among Young Drivers: a Pilot Study

 描述（由申请人提供）：开车时使用手机在年轻司机中很普遍。司机打电话时撞车的风险高4倍，发短信时高23倍。在所有年龄段中，18 - 20岁的司机在开车时使用手机的比例最高，人均撞车率也最高。不幸的是，教育工作和立法禁令在减少驾驶时使用手机方面并不有效，这突出表明需要探索其他干预措施。虽然包括手机应用在内的技术解决方案可能提供有前途的替代方案，但研究仍然很少。具体来说，到目前为止，还没有关于使用手机应用程序或其他技术干预措施来减少高危年轻人在驾驶时使用手机的研究。因此，我们提出了一个R21项目，目的是对手机应用程序的可行性和初步功效进行试点测试，以减少18 - 20岁司机使用手机和高风险驾驶事件。我们假设在西弗吉尼亚大学的司机中实施手机应用程序干预是可行的。我们还假设，如果限制手机使用的手机应用程序是活跃的，并且年轻司机遵守它，那么手机使用和高风险驾驶事件可以大大减少。本项目的目的是测试手机应用程序干预接受和保留的可行性，并确定合规的促进因素和障碍（目标1），并确定手机应用程序干预是否减少了18 - 20岁驾驶员的通话，短信和高风险驾驶事件（目标2）。将进行一项前瞻性、随机化、平行组、探索性、三组试验。西弗吉尼亚大学的60名学生将随机接受：（1）具有乘客覆盖模式的TXTL8R应用程序，该模式在驾驶时阻止手机使用，但在按下乘客按钮后允许使用手机;（2）没有乘客覆盖模式的TXTL8R应用程序，当手机移动速度超过阈值时阻止手机使用;或者（3）允许并跟踪驾驶时的电话和短信的虚假应用程序。参与者将被研究六个月。该应用程序将被设置为激活，以阻止手机使用四个月，并在干预组的剩余两个月内处于非活动状态。成果将包括：（1）驾驶时打电话;（2）驾驶时发短信;（3）由事件触发加速计测量的高风险驾驶事件。我们将进行过程评估，并估计手机应用程序在减少通话，短信和高风险驾驶事件方面的初步功效。在初步数据的指导下，这项研究也是创新的。例如，我们专注于一种创新的技术方法，以解决驾驶员使用手机的流行问题。我们将采用新颖的视频捕捉方法来识别高风险驾驶事件，并评估使用手机对高风险驾驶事件的影响。这项研究意义重大，因为研究结果将为更大规模的试验（R01项目）提供初步数据，以更明确地调查手机应用程序减少 手机使用，高风险驾驶行为，以及年轻人的撞车事故。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cell phone use while driving is prevalent among young drivers. The risk of crashing is 4 times higher for drivers talking on the phone, and 23 times higher for those texting. Drivers aged 18-20 years have both the highest phone use while driving and the highest crash rate per capita among all ages. Unfortunately, educational efforts and legislative bans have not been effective in reducing phone use while driving, highlighting the need to explore other interventions. While technological solutions, including phone apps, may offer promising alternatives, research remains sparse. Specifically, there are to date no studies of the use of phone apps or other technological interventions to reduce phone use by high-risk young adults while driving. Therefore, we propose an R21 project with objectives to pilot test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a phone app for reducing phone use and high-risk driving events in drivers aged 18-20 years. We hypothesize that it is feasible to implement a cell phone app intervention among West Virginia University drivers. We also hypothesize that the cell phone use and high-risk driving events can be substantially reduced, if a phone app which limits cell phone use is active, and young drivers comply with it. The aims of this project are to test the feasibility of a cell phone app intervention on acceptance and retention, and identify facilitators and barriers for compliance (Aim 1), and to determine whether a phone app intervention reduces calling, texting, and high-risk driving events among drivers aged 18-20 years (Aim 2). A prospective, randomized, parallel-group, exploratory, three-arm trial will be conducted. Sixty students at West Virginia University will be randomized to receive: (1) a TXTL8R app with passenger override mode that blocks phone use while driving, but allows the use of the phone after pressing the passenger button; (2) a TXTL8R app without passenger override mode that blocks cell phone use when the phone is moving above a threshold speed; or (3) a sham app that allows and tracks calls and texts while driving. Participants will be studie for six months. The app will be set active in blocking phone use for four months, and inactive for the remaining two months for the intervention arms. The outcomes will include: (1) calling while driving; (2) texting while driving; (3) high-risk driving events as measured by an event-triggered accelerometer. We will conduct process evaluation and estimate preliminary efficacy of cell phone app in reducing calling, texting, and high-risk driving events. Guided by preliminary data, this study is also innovative. For example, we focus on an innovative technological approach for addressing the epidemic of driver phone use. We will employ novel video capture methods to identify high-risk driving events and assess the contribution of phone use to high-risk driving events. This study is significant, because the findings will provide preliminary data for a larger scale trial (R01 project) to investigate more definitively the efficacy of a phone app for reducing cell phone use, high-risk driving behaviors, and crashes in young adults.