Brief Alcohol Interventions With Mobile Phone Applications for University Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial

April 28, 2019 updated by: Anne H Berman, Karolinska Institutet

Objectives: This study evaluates the efficacy of two mobile phone applications, Promillekoll and PartyPlanner among university government members at two universities in Stockholm, Sweden. The design is a three-armed randomized controlled design, and outcomes are measured in terms of changes in problematic alcohol use at follow up 7 weeks after study initiation and baseline data gathering. Both the Promillekoll and PartyPlanner apps feature real time registration of alcohol consumption and giving feedback of estimated blood alcohol concentration levels. Both apps inform and warn the user when the estimated alcohol level is above 0.6%, a level set that is below risky consumption levels. PartyPlanner additionally provides the possibility of simulating and planning an alcohol consumption event in advance and later on comparing it with the real time registration at the event.

Method: Participants with problematic alcohol use (AUDIT >7 for men and >5 for women) are randomized into one of three groups: 1. Access to Promillekoll, 2. Access to PartyPlanner and 3. Control group. Outcomes on alcohol use as well as information on the users' satisfaction with the app assigned to them gathered after 7 weeks.

The hypotheses are: 1. The groups receiving the Promillekoll and PartyPlanner interventions will reduce their alcohol use to a larger extent than the control group at follow-up compared to the baseline level. 2. The addition of the possibility to plan events beforehand (PartyPlanner) will lead to an increased decrease in alcohol consumption to only real-time use (Promillekoll).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background Brief interventions via the internet have been shown to reduce university students' alcohol intake. This study tested two smartphone applications (apps) targeting drinking choices on party occasions, with the goal of reducing problematic alcohol intake among Swedish university students.

Methods Students were recruited via e-mails sent to student union members at two universities. Those who gave informed consent, had a smartphone, and showed risky alcohol consumption according to the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) were randomized into three groups. Group 1 had access to the Swedish government alcohol monopoly's app, Promillekoll, offering real-time estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) calculation; Group 2 had access to a web-based app, PartyPlanner, developed by the research group, offering real-time eBAC calculation with planning and follow-up functions; and Group 3 participants were controls. Follow-up was conducted at 7 weeks.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

4408

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Stockholm, Sweden, 17176
        • Karolinska Institutet, department of clinical neuroscience

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

15 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Access to a smartphone running iOS or Android OS.
  • AUDIT >7 for men or AUDIT >5 for women.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • AUDIT <8 (men) or <6 (women)
  • No access to a smartphone running iOS or Android OS.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Untreated control group
Experimental: Promillekoll
Smartphone app monitoring alcohol use with feedback.
Behavioral: Promillekoll
Smartphone app monitoring alcohol use with feedback.
Experimental: PartyPlanner
Smartphone-adapted web based app for simulating an event with alcohol consumption in advance, real time monitoring alcohol use with feedback during the event and the possibility to compare these two.
Behavioral: PartyPlanner
Smartphone-adapted web based app for simulating an event with alcohol consumption in advance, real time monitoring alcohol use with feedback during the event and the possibility to compare these two.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in estimated Blood Alcohol Concentration (eBAC)
Time Frame: 7 weeks
Change in Blood Alcohol Concentration estimated using Widmark's formula for Blood Alcohol Concentration estimation.
7 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
AUDIT-C
Time Frame: 7 weeks
The change in score for the first three AUDIT questions, as a measure of alcohol consumption only, referred to as the AUDIT-C.
7 weeks
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Time Frame: 7 weeks
Change in total AUDIT score, as a summarized measure of alcohol use (including alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems).
7 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karolinska Institutet

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Anne H Berman, PhD, Karolinska Institutet

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 6, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 8, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

October 9, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 30, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2019

Last Verified

April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2012/1126-31/1

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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