Using Virtual Reality to Train Children in Pedestrian Safety

NCT00850759 | Completed Phase 3 Results DMC

• 2 other identifiers: F080715010R01HD058573-01A1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 240
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Pedestrian injuries are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in American children ages 7-8, but existing behavior-oriented interventions achieve only modest success. One limitation to existing interventions is that they fail to provide children with the repeated practice needed to develop the complex perceptual and cognitive skills required for safe pedestrian activity. Virtual reality (VR) offers a highly promising technique to train children in pedestrian safety skills. VR permits repeated unsupervised practice without risk of injury; automated feedback to children on success or failure in crossings; adjustment of traffic density and speed to match children's skill level; and an appealing and fun environment for training. The proposed research is designed to test the efficacy of virtual reality as a tool to train child pedestrians in safe street-crossing behavior. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted with four equal-sized groups of children ages 7-8 (total N = 240). One group will receive training in an interactive and immersive virtual pedestrian environment. The virtual environment, already developed, has been demonstrated to have face, construct, and convergent validity. The second group will receive pedestrian safety training via video and computer strategies that are most widely used in American schools today. The third group will receive what is judged to be the most efficacious treatment currently available, individualized behavioral training at streetside locations. The fourth and final group will serve as a no-contact control group. All participants in all groups will be exposed to a range of field- and laboratory-based measures of pedestrian skill during baseline and post-intervention visits, as well as during a six-month follow-up assessment. Primary analyses will be conducted through linear mixed models designed to test change over time in the four intervention groups. We hypothesize all children in active learning groups will increase pedestrian safety skills, but the largest increase will be among children in the virtual reality group.

Conditions

Street-crossing Ability; Pedestrian Safety

Keywords

pedestrian safety; street-crossing ability; road-crossing; children; injury prevention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Street-crossing Ability

  average count of hits/close calls per participant in virtual environment, out of 30 crossings

  post-training and again 6 months later

Study Arms (4)

virtual reality

EXPERIMENTAL

street-crossing training in a virtual pedestrian environment

Device: virtual pedestrian environment

computer and video

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

exposure to training in pedestrian safety via computer software, internet games, and television videos

Device: computer and video

streetside training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

one-on-one training in street-crossing skills by an adult, at a streetside location

Behavioral: streetside training

no-contact control

NO INTERVENTION

no-contact control group.

Interventions

virtual pedestrian environment DEVICE

a computer-driven virtual pedestrian environment

virtual reality

computer and video DEVICE

various computer-based and video-based programs such as Otto the Auto and WalkSafe

computer and video

streetside training BEHAVIORAL

one-on-one training by an adult with the child at streetside locations, to teach children street-crossing skills

streetside training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 8 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• and 8 year old children living in Birmingham, Alabama, area

You may not qualify if:

• family plans to move within 6 months of recruitment
• visual or perceptual impairment (e.g., blindness) that are uncorrected and would prevent valid participation in protocol
• physical impairment (e.g., use of wheelchair) that would prevent valid participation in protocol
• cognitive impairment (e.g., moderate mental retardation) that would prevent valid participation in protocol

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Alabama at Birmingham: lead
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

UAB Youth Safety Lab, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Schwebel DC, McClure LA. Using virtual reality to train children in safe street-crossing skills. Inj Prev. 2010 Feb;16(1):e1-5. doi: 10.1136/ip.2009.025288.

  PMID: 20179024 BACKGROUND

• Schwebel DC, Davis AL, O'Neal EE. Child Pedestrian Injury: A Review of Behavioral Risks and Preventive Strategies. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2012 Jul;6(4):292-302. doi: 10.1177/0885066611404876. Epub 2011 Jun 17.

  PMID: 23066380 BACKGROUND

Results Point of Contact

• Title: David Schwebel
• Organization: UAB

schwebel@uab.edu

205-934-8745

Study Officials

• David C Schwebel, PhD

  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 3
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean for Research in the Sciences

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 24, 2009
• First Posted: February 25, 2009
• Study Start: October 1, 2009
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2012
• Study Completion: March 1, 2014
• Last Updated: December 16, 2014
• Results First Posted: November 20, 2013

Record last verified: 2014-12

Locations

US (1)