Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24937483›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2014

Effectiveness of guided and unguided low-intensity internet interventions for adult alcohol misuse: a meta-analysis.

Heleen Riper, Matthijs Blankers, Hana Hadiwijaya, John Cunningham, Stella Clarke, Reinout Wiers, David Ebert, Pim Cuijpers

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 140 papers, 23 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
140citing papers in PubMed, 23 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

140 citing papers in PubMed, 23 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  13. Psycho-oncology · 2020
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  16. Behavior Change Techniques Used in Digital Behavior Change Interventions to Reduce Excessive Alcohol Consumption: A Meta-regression.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2018
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80 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Heleen RiperDepartment of Clinical Psychology and EMGO Institute, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Division Health Trainings online, EU innovation Incubator, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany.
Matthijs BlankersArkin Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, Department of Psychiatry, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Hana HadiwijayaDepartment of Clinical Psychology and EMGO Institute, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; TS Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
John CunninghamCentre for Mental Health Research, the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
Stella ClarkeNHS Fife, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Reinout WiersAddiction, Development and Psychopathology (ADAPT) lab, Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
David EbertDivision Health Trainings online, EU innovation Incubator, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany; Division for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department for Psychology, Philipp's University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Pim CuijpersDepartment of Clinical Psychology and EMGO Institute, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Division Health Trainings online, EU innovation Incubator, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlcohol misuse ranks within the top ten health conditions with the highest global burden of disease. Low-intensity, Internet interventions for curbing adult alcohol misuse have been shown effective. Few meta-analyses have been carried out, however, and they have involved small numbers of studies, lacked indicators of drinking within low risk guidelines, and examined the effectiveness of unguided self-help only. We therefore conducted a more thorough meta-analysis that included both guided and unguided interventions.

methodsSystematic literature searches were performed up to September 2013. Primary outcome was the mean level of alcohol consumption and drinking within low risk guidelines for alcohol consumption at post-treatment.

findingsWe selected 16 randomised controlled trials (with 23 comparisons and 5,612 participants) for inclusion. Results, showed a small but significant overall effect size in favour of Internet interventions (g = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.13-0.27, p<.001). Participants in Internet interventions drunk on average 22 grams of ethanol less than controls and were significantly more likely to be adhering to low-risk drinking guidelines at post-treatment (RD 0.13, 95% CI: 0.09-0.17, p<.001). Subgroup analyses revealed no significant differences in potential moderators for the outcome of alcohol consumption, although there was a near-significant difference between comparisons with waitlist control and those with assessment-only or alcohol information control conditions (p = .056).

conclusionsInternet interventions are effective in reducing adult alcohol consumption and inducing alcohol users to adhere to guidelines for low-risk drinking. This effect is small but from a public health point of view this may warrant large scale implementation at low cost of Internet interventions for adult alcohol misuse. Moderator analyses with sufficient power are, however, needed in order to assess the robustness of these overall results and to assess whether these interventions may impact on subgroups with different levels of success.

Indexed as

InternetAlcohol DrinkingAlcoholismHealth BehaviorHumansPatient ComplianceRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID24937483
PMCPMC4061051

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.