@article {Onoinjuryprev-2017-042503, author = {Sachiko Ono and Yosuke Ono and Nobuaki Michihata and Yusuke Sasabuchi and Hideo Yasunaga}, title = {Effect of Pok{\'e}mon GO on incidence of fatal traffic injuries: a population-based quasi-experimental study using the national traffic collisions database in Japan}, elocation-id = {injuryprev-2017-042503}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.1136/injuryprev-2017-042503}, publisher = {BMJ Publishing Group Ltd}, abstract = {Pok{\'e}mon GO (Niantic Labs, released on 22 July 2016 in Japan) is an augmented reality game that gained huge popularity worldwide. Despite concern about Pok{\'e}mon GO{\textendash}related traffic collisions, the effect of playing Pok{\'e}mon GO on the incidence of traffic injuries remains unknown. We performed a population-based quasi-experimental study using national data from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, Japan. The outcome was incidence of traffic injuries. Of 127 082 000 people in Japan, 886 fatal traffic injuries were observed between 1 June and 31 August in 2016. Regression discontinuity analysis showed a non-significant change in incidence of fatal traffic injuries after the Pok{\'e}mon GO release (0.017 deaths per million, 95\%CI -0.036 to 0.071). This finding was similar to that obtained from a difference-in-differences analysis. Effect of Pok{\'e}mon GO on fatal traffic injuries may be negligible.}, issn = {1353-8047}, URL = {https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2017/10/12/injuryprev-2017-042503}, eprint = {https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2017/10/12/injuryprev-2017-042503.full.pdf}, journal = {Injury Prevention} }