ReviewAddiction science & clinical practice2020
Smartphone apps for managing alcohol consumption: a literature review.
Review in Addiction science & clinical practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of digital interventions for smoking cessation in patients with serious mental illness.Psychological medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Health goals, sex, and college enrollment: Impacts on young adult response to digital alcohol intervention.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2026Trial
- Exploring Fit in a Mobile Health Intervention for Alcohol Use Disorder: Qualitative Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Effects of a mobile mindfulness smartphone app on posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and alcohol use problems for veterans: A pilot randomized controlled trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- Effect of a smartphone intervention as a secondary prevention for use among university students with unhealthy alcohol use: randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Trial
- Evaluating the Efficacy of the Drinks:Ration Mobile App to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in a Help-Seeking Military Veteran Population: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Trial
- A Personalized Approach Bias Modification Smartphone App ("SWiPE") to Reduce Alcohol Use: Open-Label Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Young Adults' Perspectives on an Ecological Momentary Intervention for Drinking to Cope: Qualitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- More Than Activity: The Effect of Sustained Engagement in Digital Alcohol Support Interventions for Regional and Remote Communities.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026Observational
- Supporting Mental Health with Apps: A Systematic Review of Potential and Quality of Implemented Behavior Change Techniques in Mobile Health Applications.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Review
- Digital Therapies for Substance Use Disorders: Recent Advances and Engagement Strategies.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2026Review
- The evolving field of digital mental health: current evidence and implementation issues for smartphone apps, generative artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2025Article
- A Novel Just-in-Time Intervention for Promoting Safer Drinking Among College Students: App Testing Across 2 Independent Pre-Post Trials.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Real-World Data on Alcohol Consumption Behavior Among Smartphone Health Care App Users in Japan: Retrospective Study.Online journal of public health informatics · 2025Article
- A Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Digital Intervention for Reducing Hazardous Alcohol Use in South Korea: Development and Prospective Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- The role and reach of alcohol reduction apps.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Smartphone Apps for Problematic Pornography Use: A Review of Content and Quality.Current addiction reports · 2025Article
- Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of the Daybreak Drink Tracker: Prospective Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Observational
- Technology-Based Interventions for Substance Use Treatment Among People Who Identify as African American or Black, Hispanic or Latino, and American Indian or Alaska Native: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Mobile Health Interventions for Substance Use Disorders.Annual review of clinical psychology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmartphone applications (apps) designed to assist users to reduce hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption show potential as an inexpensive alternative to traditional brief intervention in primary care. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on alcohol reduction apps and the availability of evidenced-based apps on top commercial app stores.
methodsWe reviewed literature through to December 2019 using the databases PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Google Scholar and keyword search terms smartphone/mobile/phone AND application/app AND alcohol. Articles were included if the primary intervention was a smartphone app and the study measured participant changes in frequency or volume of alcohol consumption.
results21 relevant articles were identified that evaluated 19 unique smartphone apps. Of the 19 unique apps, seven were designed for use among youth and 12 in adult populations. The available evidence for the efficacy of alcohol reduction apps among youth is inconclusive, with results from these evaluations not showing a clear benefit in reducing alcohol consumption compared to control groups. The results of apps designed for adult populations appears more promising, but results are still mixed. Of the 19 alcohol reduction apps that have been evaluated only eight of these are currently publicly available in commercial app stores. Of these eight apps, only four were demonstrated in the literature to assist with reducing alcohol consumption.
conclusionThe evidence for alcohol reduction apps is promising but inconclusive. Few apps that have been evaluated in the scientific literature are currently available for download in commercial app stores.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.