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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols

Date Submitted: Jun 25, 2023
Date Accepted: Dec 20, 2023

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

A Bluetooth-Based Smartphone App for Detecting Peer Proximity: Protocol for Evaluating Functionality and Validity

Barnett NP, Sokolovsky AW, Meisel MK, Forkus SR, Jackson KM

A Bluetooth-Based Smartphone App for Detecting Peer Proximity: Protocol for Evaluating Functionality and Validity

JMIR Res Protoc 2024;13:e50241

DOI: 10.2196/50241

PMID: 38578672

PMCID: 11031693

Detection of Peer Proximity: Protocol for Evaluating Functionality and Validity of a Bluetooth-based Smartphone Application

  • Nancy P. Barnett; 
  • Alexander W. Sokolovsky; 
  • Matthew K. Meisel; 
  • Shannon R. Forkus; 
  • Kristina M. Jackson

ABSTRACT

Background:

While ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is commonly used to study social influence in the real world, a limitation of this approach is the reliance on participant self-report of their social contexts. There is the potential for using Bluetooth sensors to assist in collecting passive data in real-time about interactions between individuals.

Objective:

This paper describes the methods for evaluating the functionality and reliability of a Bluetooth-based sensor and a smartphone application (app) to identify when two or more individuals are physically proximal.

Methods:

We will recruit 25 participants to complete a 3-week EMA study during which sensor and self-report data will be collected using a smartphone app. Participants will identify peers who are influential on a health behavior (alcohol use in this study). These peers will be asked to carry a Bluetooth beacon for the duration of the study; each beacon has a unique ID that will be recorded by the EMA app on the participant’s phone.

Results:

We will examine the functionality of the technology, including the performance of the app (e.g., app crashes, issues opening the app) and the app-to-beacon communication (e.g., does the app detect proximal beacons). We will also evaluate the reliability of the technology defined as the concordance between participant EMA report of peer presence and detection of peers via the beacon.

Conclusions:

The development of this Bluetooth-based technology has important clinical implications, including the potential for just-in-time adaptive interventions that target high-risk behavior in real-time.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Barnett NP, Sokolovsky AW, Meisel MK, Forkus SR, Jackson KM

A Bluetooth-Based Smartphone App for Detecting Peer Proximity: Protocol for Evaluating Functionality and Validity

JMIR Res Protoc 2024;13:e50241

DOI: 10.2196/50241

PMID: 38578672

PMCID: 11031693

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