Trial reportJournal of general internal medicine2022
Computerized Relational Agent to Deliver Alcohol Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment in Primary Care: a Randomized Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Journal of general internal medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02030288 (Relational Agent to Improve Alcohol Screening and Treatment in Primary Care), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Relational Agent to Improve Alcohol Screening and Treatment in Primary Care: RCT
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Review article: Electronic screening and brief intervention for alcohol-related trauma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA · 2025Pooled it
- Attrition in Conversational Agent-Delivered Mental Health Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Factors Influencing Adherence to mHealth Apps for Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of the My Personal Health Guide Mobile Phone App on ART Adherence Among Young African American Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV in the United States.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Trial
- Evidence of Efficacy of the My Personal Health Guide Mobile Phone App on Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among Young African American Men Who Have Sex With Men at 1 Month: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Trial
- A mobile relational agent to enhance atrial fibrillation self-care: Primary and secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled trial.American heart journal · 2025Trial
- Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Primary Health Care in Kazakhstan-Results of a Cluster Randomised Pilot Study.International journal of public health · 2022Trial
- Promoting Family Communication for Cascade Cancer Genetic Testing With Relational Agent Role-Play: Quasi-Experimental Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Electronic Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (e-SBIRT) for Gambling Harm: A Mixed-methods Acceptability Study.Journal of gambling studies · 2025Article
- Alcohol use-related problems in general hospitals and primary care settings: Screening, intervention, and referral to treatment.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- The use of implementation science theoretical approaches in hybrid effectiveness-implementation type 1 randomised trials of healthcare interventions: A scoping review.Implementation science : IS · 2025Article
- Developing a high-performing network computation of big bipartite network data toward alcohol use disorder treatment referrals.Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Semantic Computing · 2025Article
- RACares: a conceptual design to guide mHealth relational agent development based on a systematic review.mHealth · 2024Review
- Embodied Conversational Agents Providing Motivational Interviewing to Improve Health-Related Behaviors: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Development of an Alcohol Refusal Training in Immersive Virtual Reality for Patients With Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disability and Alcohol Use Disorder: Cocreation With Experts in Addiction Care.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Exploring the Perceptions of mHealth Interventions for the Prevention of Common Mental Disorders in University Students in Singapore: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 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
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlcohol screening and brief intervention have demonstrated efficacy but limited effectiveness and implementation in real-world primary care settings.
objectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized Relational Agent programmed to provide alcohol screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment. We hypothesized that participants in the experimental condition would report greater reductions in their drinking and higher rates of brief intervention and referrals to specialty care compared to those in treatment as usual (TAU).
designThis was a Hybrid I implementation design and stratified RCT. Participants were randomized to TAU or Relational Agent + TAU and assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up.
participantsA total of 178 veteran participants were recruited by referral from primary care staff after a positive alcohol screen, or via letter sent do patients screening positive during recent visit. INTERVENTION(S): TAU involved yearly reminders to screen alcohol use and provide brief intervention and treatment referrals, as needed. The Relational Agent added an automated brief intervention, a 1-month follow-up Relational Agent visit, and referral to treatment if needed. MAIN MEASURES: We measured average drinks per day, drinking days per week, number of brief interventions, and number of referrals over 3 months. KEY
resultsParticipants decreased their drinking in both study conditions, with no significant between-group differences on primary alcohol measures. However, Relational Agent + TAU participants evidenced greater improvements regarding negative alcohol-related consequences over 3 months, and were significantly more likely to receive a brief intervention and referral to specialty care.
conclusionsThe Relational Agent successfully provided brief intervention and referred many more patients to specialty care and was able to intervene with patients with less severe drinking without increasing primary care burden.
trial registrationclinicaltrials.gov , NCT02030288, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home.
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