Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 30, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 30, 2018 - May 8, 2018
Date Accepted: May 8, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Efficacy of a Web-Based Screening and Brief Intervention for Reducing Alcohol Consumption Among Japanese Problem Drinkers: Protocol for a Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial
Background:
The literature shows that computer-delivered interventions with personalized normative feedback can reduce problem drinking for up to 6 months in the West. Meanwhile, no studies have been conducted to examine the effects of such interventions among Japanese problem drinkers. Possible moderators associated with effectiveness of the intervention need to be also explored.
Objective:
The purpose of this study is to conduct a trial and examine the efficacy of a brief intervention with personal normative feedback and psychoeducation on several measures of alcohol consumption among Japanese problem drinkers. Additionally, this study will examine whether the level of alcohol use disorder and beliefs about the physical and psychological outcomes of drinking moderate the effect of the intervention on outcome measures.
Methods:
This study will conduct a single-blind, 2-armed randomized controlled trial. Japanese adults with an Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test score of 8 or higher will be enrolled in the trial. Participants allocated to the intervention group will receive the intervention immediately after the baseline measurements, and participants allocated to the waitlist group will receive the intervention at the end of the trial. Outcome measures include drinking quantity, drinking frequency, and alcohol-related consequences. Follow-up assessment will take place at 1 month, 2 months, and 6 months following the baseline measurement. The authors will not know the group allocation during trial. The authors will plan to collect a sample of 600 participants. Mixed-effect analyses of variance will be used to examine the main effects of condition, the main effects of time, and the interaction effects between condition and time on outcome variables.
Results:
Enrollment for the trial began on January 6, 2018 and data are expected to be available by August 2018.
Conclusions:
This study will contribute to the literature by demonstrating the efficacy of Web-based screenings and brief interventions among Japanese problem drinkers and indicating several possible moderators between the intervention and outcomes. This type of Web-based brief intervention has the possibility of being implemented in Japanese schools and workplaces as a prevention tool.
ClinicalTrial:
UMIN Clinical Trials Registry R000034388; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi? recptno=R000034388 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6xmOoTfTI)
International Registered Report:
RR1-10.2196/10650
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.