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

 描述(申请人提供)：开车时使用手机在年轻司机中很普遍。司机打电话撞车的风险是司机的4倍，发短信的司机是司机的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，教育努力和立法禁令并没有有效地减少开车时使用手机，这突显了探索其他干预措施的必要性。尽管包括手机应用在内的技术解决方案可能会提供有前景的替代方案，但研究仍然很少。具体地说，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来减少高危年轻人开车时使用手机的研究。因此，我们提出了一个R21项目，旨在试点测试手机应用程序在18-20岁司机中减少手机使用和高风险驾驶事件的可行性和初步效果。我们假设，在西弗吉尼亚大学司机中实施手机应用程序干预是可行的。我们还假设，如果一个限制手机使用的手机应用程序是活跃的，并且年轻司机遵守了它，那么手机使用和高风险驾驶事件可以大幅减少。该项目的目的是测试手机应用程序干预接受和保持的可行性，确定合规的促进者和障碍(目标1)，并确定手机应用程序干预是否减少18-20岁司机的通话、短信和高风险驾驶事件(目标2)。将进行前瞻性、随机化、平行组、探索性、三臂试验。西弗吉尼亚大学的60名学生将随机获得：(1)具有乘客优先模式的TXTL8R应用程序，它可以阻止开车时使用手机，但允许在按下乘客按钮后使用手机；(2)没有乘客优先模式的TXTL8R应用程序，当手机超过阈值速度时，禁止使用手机；或(3)允许并跟踪驾驶时的电话和短信的虚假应用程序。参与者将接受为期六个月的研究。该应用程序将在四个月内被设置为活动的手机使用，而在剩下的两个月内将被设置为非活动的干预武器。结果将包括：(1)开车时打电话；(2)开车时发短信；(3)由事件触发的加速度计测量的高风险驾驶事件。开展手机APP流程评估，初步评估手机APP在减少通话、短信和高危驾驶事件方面的效果。在前期数据的指导下，本研究也具有创新性。例如，我们专注于一种创新的技术方法，以解决司机电话使用的流行病。我们将使用新的视频捕获方法来识别高危驾驶事件，并评估手机使用对高危驾驶事件的贡献。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对降低 年轻人使用手机、高风险驾驶行为和撞车。

 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.