Trial reportAddiction (Abingdon, England)2021
Internet-based therapy versus face-to-face therapy for alcohol use disorder, a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.
Trial report in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05579210 (Developing and Implementing an Online Relapse Prevention Psychotherapy Program for Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 32 papers, 4 of them syntheses 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.
Developing and Implementing an Online Relapse Prevention Psychotherapy Program for Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digitally Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol and Other Drug Use: Meta-Analysis Across Consumption and Psychosocial Outcomes.JMIR mental health · 2026Pooled it
- How effective are remote and/or digital interventions as part of alcohol and drug treatment and recovery support? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Therapist-guided remote versus in-person cognitive behavioural therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Pooled it
- Examining the role of AI technology in online mental healthcare: opportunities, challenges, and implications, a mixed-methods review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- The effectiveness of a drink-counting and a breathalyser-coupled smartphone application for reduced heavy drinking among alcohol-dependent adults in Sweden: A randomised controlled trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Trial
- Individual differences in treatment effects of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy in primary care: a moderation analysis of a randomized clinical trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Trial
- Individualized treatment effects of a digital alcohol intervention and their associations with participant characteristics and engagement.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Trial
- Effects of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Harmful Alcohol Use and Alcohol Dependence as Self-help or With Therapist Guidance: Three-Armed Randomized Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Internet-based therapy versus face-to-face therapy for alcohol use disorder, a randomized controlled non-inferiority trial.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Trial
- Psychosocial Interventions for Alcohol Use Disorder: A Review of Efficacy, Mechanisms, and Clinical Implications.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2026Review
- Article
- Barriers to alcohol intervention program: a scoping review.Korean journal of family medicine · 2025Article
- Validation of the alcohol use disorders identification test in a Danish hospital setting.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2025Article
- Summary of Best Evidence for Psychosocial Interventions in Adults with Alcohol Use Disorder: An Evidence-Based Review.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Review
- Introducing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Online Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Gambling Disorder in Routine Addiction Care: Comparative Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Navigating challenges and opportunities: perspectives on digital service development in substance use disorder treatment.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- The identification and treatment of alcohol problems in primary care (iTAPP) study: protocol for a stepped wedge cluster randomized control trial testing the 15-method in a primary care setting.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- Article
- Is internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder equally effective for men and women? Implications of a secondary analysis of a clinical trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- High- versus low-intensity internet interventions for alcohol use disorders (AUD): A two-year follow-up of a single-blind randomized controlled trial.Internet interventions · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsMost people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are never treated. Internet-based interventions are effective in reducing alcohol consumption and could help to overcome some of the barriers to people not seeking or receiving treatment. The aim of the current study was to compare internet-delivered and face-to-face treatment among adult users with AUD.
designRandomized controlled non-inferiority trial with a parallel design, comparing internet-delivered cognitive-behavioural therapy (ICBT) (n = 150) with face-to-face CBT (n = 151), at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.
settingA specialized clinic for people with AUD in Stockholm, Sweden. Participants were recruited between 8 December 2015 and 5 January 2018.
participantsA total of 301 patients [mean age 50 years, standard deviation (SD) = 12.3] with AUD, of whom 115 (38%) were female and 186 (62%) were male. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: Participants were randomized in blocks of 20 at a ratio of 1 : 1 to five modules of therapist-guided ICBT or to five modules of face-to-face CBT, delivered over a 3-month period. The same treatment material and the same therapists were used in both groups. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was standard drinks of alcohol consumed during the previous week at 6-month follow-up, analysed according to intention-to-treat. The pre-specified non-inferiority limit was five standard drinks of alcohol and d = 0.32 for secondary outcomes.
resultsThe difference in alcohol consumption between the internet and the face-to-face group was non-inferior in the intention-to-treat analysis of data from the 6-month follow-up [internet = 12.33 and face-to-face = 11.43, difference = 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.10 to 2.88]. The secondary outcome, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test score, failed to show non-inferiority of internet compared with face-to-face in the intention-to-treat analysis at 6-month follow-up (internet = 12.26 and face-to-face = 11.57, d = 0.11, 95% CI = -0.11 to 0.34).
conclusionsInternet-delivered treatment was non-inferior to face-to-face treatment in reducing alcohol consumption among help-seeking patients with alcohol use disorder but failed to show non-inferiority on some secondary outcomes.
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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.