Nicolas Bertholet*, Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland John A. Cunningham, Centre for Mental Health Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Mohamed Faouzi, Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Jacques Gaume, Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Gerhard Gmel*, Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Bernard Burnand, Clinical Epidemiology Center, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Jean-Bernard Daeppen, Alcohol Treatment Center, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Track: Research Presentation Topic: Web 2.0 approaches for behaviour change, public health and biosurveillance Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2014-05-22

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Background: Unhealthy alcohol use is a major health concern among young men and is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in high income countries. In this age group, the burden of alcohol is mostly explained by deaths by accident and violence associated with binge drinking. Internet-based alcohol brief interventions (IBI) may help decrease alcohol use and binge drinking among young men from the general population.
Objective: To test the effectiveness of an IBI to decrease unhealthy alcohol use.
Methods: We conducted a parallel-group randomized controlled trial of an IBI targeting young men with unhealthy alcohol use (defined as drinking >=6 drinks/occasion at least monthly or >14 drinks/week or Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score >8). There is a mandatory army recruitment process in Switzerland at age 19 for men. Of the 4365 men attending recruitment centers invited to participate, 1633 (37%) did so; 737 of them, who reported unhealthy alcohol use, were eventually included. Participants in the intervention (IG) group (n=367) completed a short assessment on alcohol use and received the IBI: 1.) normative feedback, 2.) consequences, 3.) calorific value of reported consumption, 4.) computed blood alcohol concentration based on reported consumption, 5.) indication of risk, 6.) information on alcohol and health. Participants in the control (CG) group (n=370) completed the assessment only. Participants were randomized by the study website (full concealment of allocation). All study procedures were run online and researchers were blinded to group allocation. Follow-up took place 1 and 6 months post-randomization. Primary outcomes were prevalence of monthly binge drinking and number of drinks per week at 1 and 6 months follow-up. The AUDIT score at 6 months was a secondary outcome. The impact of the intervention on the prevalence of binge-drinking was analyzed using a random-effects logit model, the impact of the intervention on the weekly alcohol consumption (in drinks per week) was analyzed using a random-effects negative binomial model, the impact of the intervention on the AUDIT score was analyzed using a negative binomial regression model.
Results: The follow-up rate was 92% at 1 month and 91% at 6 months. Over time, there was a significant decrease in the prevalence of monthly binge drinking [IG: 85.6% (baseline), 69.8% (6 months); CG: 84.3%, 71.1%] and mean (SD) number of drinks/week [IG: 10.1(7.9), 8.5(8.5); CG: 9.5(7.8), 9.1(8.9)] and mean AUDIT (SD) score [IG: 10.7(4.3), 8.8(4.3); CG: 10.5(4.0), 9.3(4.5). There was no intervention effect on the prevalence of binge drinking. There was a small intervention effect on the mean number of drinks per week at 6 months (IRR=0.80(0.74;0.87) in IG vs IRR=0.90(0.83;0.97) in CG, p=0.03) and a small intervention effect on the AUDIT score at 6 months (IRR 0.92 (0.87; 0.98), p=0.01).
Conclusion: We found no intervention effect on the prevalence of binge drinking but small intervention effects on the mean number of drinks per week and AUDIT score at 6 months, following an IBI for unhealthy alcohol use conducted among young men in the general population.
Trial registration: ISRCTN55991918