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Researcher and emergency physician Brian Suffoletto studied 22 adults between the ages of 21 and 43 and gave volunteers a vodka drink with enough alcohol to produce a respiratory concentration of 0.2%. In the United States, the legal limit for alcohol consumption, based on the concentration of alcohol in the blood per gram of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, is 0.08%.
Participants had one hour to finish the alcohol, then their breath alcohol concentration was analyzed hourly for seven hours as they performed a walking task, walking in a straight line for 10 steps, before standing. turn over and back 10 paces.
The researchers attached a smartphone to the participants’ lower back with an elastic waistband. Using an app to record the accelerometer data, the phones then measured acceleration, side-to-side, up-to-down, and front-to-back motion as the participants walked.
About 90 percent of the time, the researchers were able to use gait changes detected by the phone’s sensors and the app to identify when a person’s blood alcohol limit was over 0.08 percent.
“This controlled lab study shows that our phones can be useful in identifying the ‘signatures’ of alcohol-related functional impairments,” said Suffoletto, who was working at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine when the research took place. been conducted and now working at the Stanford University School of Emergency Medicine Department of Medicine, said in a statement.
“We have powerful sensors that we carry with us wherever we go,” Suffoletto said. “We must learn to use them to better serve public health.
“I lost a close friend in a drunk driving accident at college,” Suffoletto added. “And as an emergency doctor, I have cared for dozens of adults suffering from injuries related to acute alcohol poisoning. For this reason, I have devoted the past 10 years to testing digital interventions to prevent fatalities and injuries from heavy drinking.
Alcohol, a central nervous system depressant, reduces brain function and impairs thinking, muscle coordination, and reasoning, which can affect a person’s ability to operate a vehicle safely. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, impaired driving accidents in the United States kill more than 10,000 people per year.
Researchers say the study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, is a “proof of concept study” that “provides a basis for future research on the use of smartphones to remotely detect disorders. alcohol-related ”.
The team plans to continue research with participants carrying phones in their hands and pockets.
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