Trial reportJournal of medical Internet research2021
The Effectiveness of a Web-Based Self-Help Program to Reduce Alcohol Use Among Adults With Drinking Patterns Considered Harmful, Hazardous, or Suggestive of Dependence in Four Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of medical Internet research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial and pharmacologic interventions to reduce harmful alcohol use in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Text Messaging for Mental Health Promotion With Migrants Returning to Mexico: Content Development and Piloting With a Needs Assessment Approach.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Questionable generalizability of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption scoring warrants caution when used for outcome monitoring: Evidence from simulated and real-world trial data.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Addressing anaemia in adivasi women of reproductive age: urgent policy imperatives for Karnataka.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Digital interventions for alcohol use and alcohol use disorders in low- and-middle-income countries: a systematic review.Oxford open digital health · 2025Review
- Addressing India's alcohol misuse crisis: The urgent need for screening and brief intervention to bridge the healthcare gap.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2024Article
- Alcohol use disorder research in India: An update.Indian journal of psychiatry · 2024Review
- Evaluation of a Primary E-Health Intervention for People with Alcohol Use Disorder: Clinical Characteristics of Users and Efficacy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Seeking care where they can: A systematic review of global trends in online alcohol treatment utilization among non-veteran and veteran women.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGiven the scarcity of alcohol prevention and use disorder treatments in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the World Health Organization has launched an eHealth portal that includes the web-based self-help program "Alcohol e-Health."
objectiveWe aimed to test the effectiveness of the Alcohol e-Health program in a randomized controlled trial.
methodsThis was a two-arm, individually randomized, and controlled trial across four LMICs comparing the self-help program and a psychoeducation and internet access as usual waiting list. Participants were broadly recruited from community samples in Belarus, Brazil, India, and Mexico from January 2016 through January 2019. The primary outcome measure was change in the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) score with a time frame of 6 months between baseline and follow-up. Secondary outcomes included self-reported numbers of standard drinks over the previous week and cessation of harmful or hazardous drinking (AUDIT score <8).
resultsFor this study, we recruited 1400 predominantly male (n=982, 70.1%) at least harmful or hazardous alcohol drinkers. The mean age was 37.6 years (SD 10.5). The participants were recruited from Brazil (n=587), Mexico (n=509), India (n=212), and Belarus (n=92). Overall, complete case analysis identified higher AUDIT changes in the intervention group (B=-4.18, 95% CI -5.42 to -2.93, P<.001, d=0.56) that were mirrored by changes in weekly standard drinks (B=-9.34, 95% CI -15.90 to -2.77, P=.005, d=0.28) and cessation rates for harmful or hazardous drinking (χ
conclusionsThe expansion of the Alcohol e-Health program to other LMICs with underdeveloped alcohol prevention and treatment systems for alcohol use disorders should be considered after successful replication of the present results.
trial registrationISRCTN ISRCTN14037475; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14037475. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.1111/add.14034.
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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.