JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Alcohol misuse is higher in the UK Armed Forces than in the general population. We investigated the efficacy of a 28-day brief alcohol intervention delivered via a smartphone application (app) in reducing weekly self-reported alcohol consumption among UK veterans seeking help for mental health difficulties.

Methods:

We performed a two-arm participant-blinded randomised controlled trial. We compared a smartphone app that included interactive features designed to enhance participants’ motivation and personalised messaging (intervention arm) with a version that provided government guidance on alcohol consumption only (control arm). Adults were eligible if they had served in the UK Armed Forces, were currently receiving, or had received clinical support for mental health symptoms and consumed 14 units (approximately 112g of ethanol) or more of alcohol per week. Participants received the intervention or control smartphone app (1:1 ratio). The primary outcome was change in self-reported weekly alcohol consumption between baseline and day 84 assessed using the Time-Line Follow Back for Alcohol Consumption.

Results:

Between October 2020 and April 2021, 2708 individuals were invited to take part, of which 2531 did not respond, 54 were ineligible, and 123 responded and were randomly allocated (62=intervention; 61=control). At primary outcome, 41 (66.1%) participants in the intervention and 37 (60.7%) in the control completed the primary outcome assessment. Between baseline and day 84, weekly alcohol consumption had a reduction of -10.5 [95% CI: -19.5 to -1.5] units in the control arm and -28.2 [95% CI: -36.9 to -19.5] units in the intervention arm (p-value= .003; Cohen’s d=0.35). Two adverse events were detected during the trial. Discussion: Participants receiving Drinks:Ration reduced their alcohol consumption more than participants receiving guidance only. In the short term Drinks:Ration is efficacious in reducing alcohol consumption in help-seeking veterans.