The DrinksRation Smartphone App for Modifying Alcohol Use Behaviors in UK Military Service Personnel at Risk of Alcohol-Related Harm: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Consumption of alcohol is synonymous with military populations and studies have shown that serving personnel drink more than age and sex matched civilian populations. While ingrained in the military culture, excessive alcohol use is associated with increased rates of disciplinary issues, sickness absence and loss of productivity, as well as contributing to a burden of acute and chronic health problems. Alcohol brief interventions can reduce alcohol use in civilian populations, but there is a paucity of evidence relating to the effectiveness of interventions in military populations. The DrinksRation smartphone application was designed to have a basis in Behaviour Change Technique theory, and focuses on providing behavioural prompts tailored to a military population. It has previously been shown to be effective in a help-seeking veteran population. OBJECTIVE The primary purpose of the Military DrinksRation Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) study is to determine whether it is similarly effective in a serving military population. METHODS Military DrinksRation study is a two-arm, single blinded, 1:1 randomised controlled trial of the UK Armed Forces population comparing the effectiveness of the DrinksRation smartphone application with treatment as usual for personnel identified at risk of alcohol related harm. It is hypothesised that the DrinksRation application will be more efficacious at reducing alcohol consumption compared to treatment as usual. RESULTS Recruitment to the study is expected to open from June 2023 and aims to enrol 728 participants into the study to allow for a study sample size requirement of 218 per arm and a 40% attrition rate. CONCLUSIONS The UK Armed Forces have a relationship with alcohol that is different to the civilian population and so the MDR study aims to show whether the DrinksRation app is effective at changing the alcohol behaviour use in serving personnel. This could therefore potentially provide the UK Defence Medical Services with an evidence based tool to use as part of an alcohol management clinical pathway, and better support military personnel at risk of harm from alcohol drinking. CLINICALTRIAL International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial (ISRCT) Number registry (submission number: 42646)