A randomized controlled trial of the web-based drinking diary program for problem drinking in multi workplace settings

Abstract

Objectives To assess the effectiveness of a web‐based brief intervention (BI) program to record daily drinking among people with problem drinking in workplace settings. Methods A two‐armed, parallel‐group, randomized controlled trial were conducted at six workplaces in Japan. After obtaining written consent to participate in the study, workers with an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score of 8 or higher were randomly assigned into two groups. The participants allocated to the intervention group recorded their daily alcohol consumption for 4 weeks using the program, while those allocated to the control group received no intervention. Outcome measures included the amount of alcohol consumption in past 7 days using the Timeline Follow‐Back method in the program at baseline, 8th week, and 12th week and written AUDIT score at baseline and 12th week. Results Hundred participants were assigned to either the intervention group ( n = 50) or control group ( n = 50). The results of two‐way repeated measures ANOVA showed a statistically significant interaction between the group and the week factors in the two primary outcomes (number of alcohol‐free days, total drinks) and secondary outcomes (AUDIT score) ( p = .04, .02, and .03, respectively). The between‐group effect sizes (Hedges' g ; 95% CI) of the outcomes at 12th week were 0.53; 0.13–0.93 (total drinks), 0.44; 0.04–0.84 (AUDIT score), 0.43; 0.03–0.83 (number of alcohol‐free days). Conclusions The web‐based BI program for problem drinking was considered to be effective in reducing alcohol consumption and the AUDIT score in workplace settings.

Comparative effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in adults with harmful use of alcohol: a systematic review and network meta‐analysis

“…The average age of participants was 35.68 years (average age ranged from 18.99 to 62.83 years), and 67% ( n = 4790) of participants were male. Of the 19 RCTs included in this systematic review, 17 studies used AUDIT as an outcome (and were included in the primary analysis) [37–41, 43–52, 54, 55], while two used the AUDIT‐C (and were added to the secondary analysis) [42, 53]. Three studies (Hansson et al ., Safsten et al ., Xiaolu et al .)…”

“…Sixteen trials were included in the primary analysis of the NMA [37–41, 44–52, 54, 55]. One study (Cunningham et al .…”

“…A summary of the risk of bias assessment is provided in Supporting information, Appendix S12. Of the 19 studies included in the systematic review, 11 were found to be low risk [40–44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53], four high risk [37, 39, 45, 51] and four wunclear risk of bias [38, 48, 54, 55]. Of the four overall high‐risk studies, two had incomplete data [39, 51] and two did not adequately protect against contamination [37, 45].…”

“…A total of 7149 participants, among 19 RCTs, were included in the systematic review [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. The average age of participants was 35.68 years (average age ranged from 18.99 to 62.83 years), and 67% (n = 4790) of participants were male.…”

Impact of a Novel Digital Therapeutics System on Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: The NASH App Clinical Trial

“…Digital therapeutics (DTx) is a rapidly emerging therapeutic modality in which a computer software is used to provide evidence-based interventions to prevent, manage, and treat diseases. Various trials of DTx using smartphone applications (app) have been conducted for chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus ( 7 ), nicotine addiction ( 8 , 9 ), hypertension ( 10 , 11 ), alcohol addiction ( 12 ), and even cancers ( 13 ). We considered that a smartphone app–based DTx intervention could also be a potentially useful novel solution for patients with NASH.…”