ArticleInternet interventions2024
Randomized controlled trial of a smartphone app designed to reduce unhealthy alcohol consumption.
Article in Internet interventions, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04745325 (Assessing the Effectiveness and Mechanisms of Action of a Smartphone App Designed to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Consumption), which is not on this map. Cited by 8 papers.
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.
Assessing the Effectiveness and Mechanisms of Action of a Smartphone App Designed to Reduce Unhealthy Alcohol Consumption: Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- App-based skills training to reduce problem drinking among adult internet help-seekers: a double-blinded randomized controlled trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2026Trial
- 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
- Smartphone-Based Intervention Targeting Norms and Risk Perception Among University Students with Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Secondary Mediation Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Usability evaluation of Alerta Alcohol 2.0: an eHealth game to prevent adolescent alcohol consumption.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Health-Related Quality of Life Before and After Sobriety in Combination With an Adjunctive Journaling App in Patients With Alcohol-Related Liver Disease: Prospective Single-Arm Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- Clinicians' perspectives on integrating smartphone application data into routine alcohol dependency treatment: factors influencing implementation.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Review
- Discovering what young adults want in electronic interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related consequences.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2024Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and aims: Unhealthy alcohol use is common and causes tremendous harm. Most people with unhealthy alcohol use will never seek formal alcohol treatment. As an alternative, smartphone apps have been developed as one means to provide help to people concerned about their alcohol use. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a smartphone app targeting unhealthy alcohol consumption in a general population sample. Methods: Participants were recruited from across Canada using online advertisements. Eligible participants who consented to the trial were asked to download a research-specific version of the app and were provided with a code that unlocked it (a different code for each participant to prevent sharing). Those who entered the code were randomized to one of two different versions of the app: 1) the Full app containing all intervention modules; or 2) the Educational only app, containing only the educational content of the app. Participants were followed-up at 6 months. The primary outcome variable was number of standard drinks in a typical week. Secondary outcome variables were frequency of heavy drinking days and experience of alcohol-related problems. Results: A total of 761 participants were randomized to a condition. The follow-up rate was 81 %. A generalized linear mixed model revealed that participants receiving the full app reduced their typical weekly alcohol consumption to a greater extent than participants receiving the educational only app (incidence rate ratio 0.89; 95 % confidence interval 0.80 to 0.98). No significant differences were observed in the secondary outcome variables ( Discussion and conclusion: The results of this trial provide some supportive evidence that smartphone apps can reduce unhealthy alcohol consumption. As this is the second randomized controlled trial demonstrating an impact of this same app (the first one targeted unhealthy alcohol use in university students), increased confidence is placed on the potential effectiveness of the smartphone app employed in the current trial.ClinicalTrials.org number: NCT04745325.
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