Mucio Kit Delgado1,2,3,4, Frances Shofer1, Reagan Wetherill5, Brenda Curtis6, Jessica Hemmons1, Evan Spencer1, Charles Branas3,7, Douglas J Wiebe2,3,4, Henry R Kranzler5,8. 1. Behavioral Science & Analytics For Injury Reduction (BeSAFIR) Lab, Department of Emergency Medicine & the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 2. Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 3. Penn Injury Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 4. Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. 6. Technology and Translational Research Unit, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. 7. Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. 8. VISN 4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although alcohol breath testing devices that pair with smartphones are promoted for the prevention of alcohol-impaired driving, their accuracy has not been established. METHODS: In a within-subjects laboratory study, we administered weight-based doses of ethanol to two groups of 10 healthy, moderate drinkers aiming to achieve a target peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10%. We obtained a peak phlebotomy BAC and measured breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) with a police-grade device (Intoxilyzer 240) and two randomly ordered series of 3 consumer smartphone-paired devices (6 total devices) with measurements every 20 min until the BrAC reached <0.02% on the police device. Ten participants tested the first 3 devices, and the other 10 participants tested the other 3 devices. We measured mean paired differences in BrAC with 95% confidence intervals between the police-grade device and consumer devices. RESULTS: The enrolled sample (N = 20) included 11 females; 15 white, 3 Asian, and 2 Black participants; with a mean age of 27 and mean BMI of 24.6. Peak BACs ranged from 0.06-0.14%. All 7 devices underestimated BAC by >0.01%, though the BACtrack Mobile Pro and police-grade device were consistently more accurate than the Drinkmate and Evoc. Compared with the police-grade device measurements, the BACtrack Mobile Pro readings were consistently higher, the BACtrack Vio and Alcohoot measurements similar, and the Floome, Drinkmake, and Evoc consistently lower. The BACtrack Mobile Pro and Alcohoot were most sensitive in detecting BAC driving limit thresholds, while the Drinkmate and Evoc devices failed to detect BAC limit thresholds more than 50% of the time relative to the police-grade device. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of smartphone-paired devices varied widely in this laboratory study of healthy participants. Although some devices are suitable for clinical and research purposes, others underestimated BAC, creating the potential to mislead intoxicated users into thinking that they are fit to drive.
BACKGROUND: Although alcohol breath testing devices that pair with smartphones are promoted for the prevention of alcohol-impaired driving, their accuracy has not been established. METHODS: In a within-subjects laboratory study, we administered weight-based doses of ethanol to two groups of 10 healthy, moderate drinkers aiming to achieve a target peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10%. We obtained a peak phlebotomy BAC and measured breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) with a police-grade device (Intoxilyzer 240) and two randomly ordered series of 3 consumer smartphone-paired devices (6 total devices) with measurements every 20 min until the BrAC reached <0.02% on the police device. Ten participants tested the first 3 devices, and the other 10 participants tested the other 3 devices. We measured mean paired differences in BrAC with 95% confidence intervals between the police-grade device and consumer devices. RESULTS: The enrolled sample (N = 20) included 11 females; 15 white, 3 Asian, and 2 Black participants; with a mean age of 27 and mean BMI of 24.6. Peak BACs ranged from 0.06-0.14%. All 7 devices underestimated BAC by >0.01%, though the BACtrack Mobile Pro and police-grade device were consistently more accurate than the Drinkmate and Evoc. Compared with the police-grade device measurements, the BACtrack Mobile Pro readings were consistently higher, the BACtrack Vio and Alcohoot measurements similar, and the Floome, Drinkmake, and Evoc consistently lower. The BACtrack Mobile Pro and Alcohoot were most sensitive in detecting BAC driving limit thresholds, while the Drinkmate and Evoc devices failed to detect BAC limit thresholds more than 50% of the time relative to the police-grade device. CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of smartphone-paired devices varied widely in this laboratory study of healthy participants. Although some devices are suitable for clinical and research purposes, others underestimated BAC, creating the potential to mislead intoxicated users into thinking that they are fit to drive.
Authors: Pirkko Kriikku; Lars Wilhelm; Stefan Jenckel; Janne Rintatalo; Jukka Hurme; Jan Kramer; A Wayne Jones; Ilkka Ojanperä Journal: Forensic Sci Int Date: 2014-03-26 Impact factor: 2.395
Authors: David H Gustafson; Fiona M McTavish; Ming-Yuan Chih; Amy K Atwood; Roberta A Johnson; Michael G Boyle; Michael S Levy; Hilary Driscoll; Steven M Chisholm; Lisa Dillenburg; Andrew Isham; Dhavan Shah Journal: JAMA Psychiatry Date: 2014-05 Impact factor: 21.596
Authors: Alison M Haney; Courtney A Motschman; Olivia M Warner; Rachel L Wesley; Andrea M Wycoff; Timothy J Trull; Denis M McCarthy Journal: Psychol Addict Behav Date: 2022-02-07