a Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health , Lausanne University Hospital , Lausanne , Vaud , Switzerland.
b Department of Population Health , New York University School of Medicine , New York , New York , USA.
Subst Abus. 2017 Jul-Sep;38(3):285-291. doi: 10.1080/08897077.2017.1281860. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Technology-delivered interventions are useful tools for addressing unhealthy alcohol use. Smartphones in particular offer opportunities to deliver interventions at the user's convenience. A smartphone application with 5 modules (personal feedback, self-monitoring of drinking, designated driver tool, blood alcohol content [BAC] calculator, information) was developed. Its acceptability and associations between use and drinking outcomes were assessed.
One hundred thirty adults with unhealthy alcohol use (>14 [men]/>7 [women] drinks/week or ≥1 episode/month with 6 or more drinks) recruited in Switzerland (n = 70) and Canada (n = 60) were offered to use the application. Follow-up occurred after 3 months. Appreciation, usefulness, and self-reported frequency of use of the modules, and drinking outcomes (drinks/week, binge drinking) were assessed. Associations between application use and drinking at 3 months were evaluated with negative binomial and logistic regression models, adjusted for baseline values and gender.
Of the participants, 48% were women, mean (SD) age: 32.8 (10.0). Follow-up rate: 86.2%. There were changes from baseline (BL) to follow-up (FU) in number of drinks/week, BL: 15.0 (16.5); FU: 10.9 (10.5), P = .01, and binge drinking, BL: 95.4%; FU: 64.3%, P < .0001. All modules had median ratings between 6 and 8 (scale of 1-10). Among the participants, 77% used the application, 76% used the personal feedback module, 41% the self-monitoring of drinking, 22% the designated driver tool, 53% the BAC calculator, and 31% the information module. Participants using the application more than once reported significantly fewer drinks/week at follow-up: Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR), number of drinks per week = 0.70 (0.51; 0.96).
A smartphone application for unhealthy alcohol use appears acceptable and useful (although there is room for improvement). Without prompting, its use is infrequent. Those who used the application more than once reported less weekly drinking than those who did not. Efficacy of the application should be tested in a randomized trial with strategies to increase frequency of its use.
技术干预是解决不健康饮酒问题的有用工具。智能手机尤其提供了在用户方便时提供干预的机会。开发了一个具有 5 个模块的智能手机应用程序（个人反馈、饮酒自我监测、代驾工具、血液酒精含量 [BAC] 计算器、信息）。评估了其可接受性以及使用与饮酒结果之间的关联。
在瑞士（n=70）和加拿大（n=60）招募了 130 名有不健康饮酒史的成年人（男性>14 杯/周或>7 杯/周，女性>7 杯/周或>7 杯/周；每月至少有 1 次 6 次或更多次饮酒），并邀请他们使用该应用程序。3 个月后进行随访。评估了模块的使用频率、使用频率、使用频率和饮酒结果（每周饮酒量、狂饮）的评估。使用负二项和逻辑回归模型评估 3 个月时应用程序使用与饮酒之间的关联，调整了基线值和性别。
参与者中 48%为女性，平均（SD）年龄为 32.8（10.0）。随访率为 86.2%。与基线（BL）相比，随访（FU）时的饮酒量有变化，BL：15.0（16.5）；FU：10.9（10.5），P=.01，狂饮率，BL：95.4%；FU：64.3%，P<.0001。所有模块的评分中位数均在 6 到 8 之间（1 到 10 分）。在参与者中，77%使用了该应用程序，76%使用了个人反馈模块，41%使用了饮酒自我监测模块，22%使用了代驾工具，53%使用了 BAC 计算器，31%使用了信息模块。使用该应用程序的频率超过一次的参与者在随访时每周饮酒量明显减少：发生率比（IRR），每周饮酒量=0.70（0.51；0.96）。
一款用于治疗不健康饮酒的智能手机应用程序似乎是可以接受和有用的（尽管还有改进的空间）。在没有提示的情况下，使用频率很低。与未使用者相比，使用该应用程序超过一次的参与者每周饮酒量更少。应在一项随机试验中测试该应用程序的疗效，并制定增加其使用频率的策略。
