Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Nov 17, 2021
Date Accepted: Jul 30, 2022
The Effects of an Online Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption among Middle-Aged Women: Addressing the Booming Booze Culture in Middle-Aged Women: Protocol Paper for a Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
In the last decade, alcohol consumption amongst middle-aged women (40-65 year-olds) in Australia increased, despite declines in overall population consumption. Online brief interventions are promising for reducing alcohol consumption, with efficacy shown in a wide range of populations. However, no published interventions have been designed specifically for and tested with middle-aged women.
Objective:
This study aims to design and implement an online intervention intended to reduce alcohol consumption amongst middle-aged women.
Methods:
The study is a three-arm randomised controlled trial with an online intervention plus ecological momentary assessment (EMA) group compared to an EMA only and a pre-post only control group. The study is aimed at middle-aged women, defined as women aged between 40-65, who consume alcohol at least weekly or who have consumed four or more drinks on one occasion in the last month.The intervention aims to reduce alcohol consumption through four modules that provide information on the health impacts of alcohol, mindfulness, social influences and alcohol marketing. Intervention participants will also fill out bi-weekly EMA assessments. The comparators are EMA-only and pre-post control only. The primary outcome is alcohol consumption at eight weeks compared between groups. Secondary outcomes are awareness of alcohol-related harms, readiness to change alcohol consumption, health status, mental health and social support.
Results:
Ethics approval for this project was received on 11 September 2019. The trial was registered on 14 August 2020. Recruitment has commenced and expected results will be available in 2022.
Conclusions:
This online intervention aims to reduce alcohol consumption amongst middle-aged women, a currently understudied cohort in alcohol research. Clinical Trial: The trial was registered with Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12620000814976 on 14 August 2020, https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12620000814976.
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Copyright
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