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Using Interactive Virtual Presence to Remotely Assist Parents With Child Restraint Installations

NCT03877744 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 1498

Last updated 2025-05-06

Study results available
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Summary

Motor vehicle crashes cause the death of an American child every 3 hours, more than any other cause. When installed correctly, car seats reduce risk of serious injury and death to infants and young children. Unfortunately, a large portion of child restraints is installed incorrectly. A network of trained technicians work across the country to assist parents in achieving correct use of child restraints through scheduled "car seat checks," where technicians work with parents to install restraints in their vehicles. Car seat checks are effective in reducing errors in child restraint installations. However, the services are highly underutilized.

The present study evaluates use of interactive virtual presence technology (also called interactive merged reality) to remotely assist parents to install child restraints correctly into their vehicles. Building from small pilot studies on the topic, the investigators will conduct a randomized non-inferiority trial to evaluate whether parents who install child restraints while communicating with a remote expert technician via interactive virtual presence achieve installations and learning that are not inferior in their safety to parents who install restraints live with a remote technician onsite.

The investigators will recruit 1476 parents at 7 locations nationwide and randomly assign consenting parents to install their child restraint either via interactive virtual presence or with a live technician. The correctness of installation safety will be assessed using objective checklists, both following installation and again four months later. The investigators aim to demonstrate that child restraint installation is accurate (\>90% correct) when conducted remotely via interactive virtual presence, that such installations are not inferior to the accuracy of installation with a live on-site expert, and that parents learn and retain information about correct child restraint installation.

Conditions

  • Car Seat Installation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

interactive virtual presence

parents will install car seat through remote guidance via interactive virtual presence

BEHAVIORAL

live technician

parents will install car seat through guidance from a live certified technician who is present

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Safe Kids Worldwide

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • University of Alabama at Birmingham

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Model
FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age
15 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-01-23
Primary Completion
2024-02-28
Completion
2024-02-28

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03877744 on ClinicalTrials.gov