Pilot Study of a Text Message Platform to Reduce Risky Drinking in Young Adults

NCT ID: NCT01197352

Last Updated: 2012-05-21

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 45 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2010-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2011-02-28

Brief Summary

Young adults are in a critical period where they can be influenced to avoid a trajectory of high-risk drinking and harmful outcomes in the later adult years. The Emergency Department might offer a unique opportunity to reach young adults, if an easy to implement screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment was available. The investigators are investigating the feasibility and accuracy of ED-initiated and outpatient-continued assessment of drinking behavior in young adults using a computer-driven text messaging platform. Based on the subject's response to weekly assessments, the computer platform will send personalized motivational messages in real-time.

Detailed Description

Greater than 45% of young adults have heavy episodic drinking (HED; 5/4 drinks per occasion form men/women), resulting in significant health risks, including injury and death. Early identification and secondary prevention of HED using screening, brief interventions and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is advocated by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as a way to reduce injury and health consequences. Each day in the United States, there are over 2700 emergency department (ED) visits associated with alcohol, unfortunately, SBIRT is rarely performed in the ED due to time and training requirements. Our application seeks to solve this problem by integrating SBIRT into ED care through the use of ecological assessments with interventions. We will incorporate components of the NIAAA 2005 Clinicians Guide into automated weekly assessments (EA) and branching algorithms for personalized interventions (EA&I) delivered in real-time through mobile phone text messaging to young adults with a history of at-risk drinking behavior. We will assess the feasibility of EA&I to study young adults with a history of at-risk drinking and assess the variability in outcomes in patients undergoing EA&I, EA or standard care. We expect to find that this ED-initiated and outpatientcontinued platform will improve collection of drinking behavior, delivery of real-world motivational feedback and follow-up in young adults with at-risk drinking histories. We anticipate that short-term HED will be reduced in those subjects randomized to EA&I. We will use this information to support further studies with adequate power to show ED-initiated EA&I reduce long-term HED and its adverse consequences in young adults.

Conditions

Alcohol Abuse; Alcohol Consumption; Drinking Behavior

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SCREENING
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Text message queries with feedback

Weekly prompted queries about drinking behavior with personalized feedback.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Motivational and Normative Feedback

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Weekly feedback based on their frequency and degree of at-risk drinking behavior using normative, educational and motivational feedback

Text message queries

Weekly prompted queries about drinking behavior

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Self-Awareness

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Weekly queries to raise awareness and allow self-reflection about drinking habits

Control

Weekly text reminders to complete final (12 week) instruments

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Motivational and Normative Feedback

Weekly feedback based on their frequency and degree of at-risk drinking behavior using normative, educational and motivational feedback

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Self-Awareness

Weekly queries to raise awareness and allow self-reflection about drinking habits

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 18-24 years
• English speaking
• Owns a personal phone with text messaging

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnant
• Prisoner
• Treated for alcohol dependence or abuse
• Treated for psychiatric disorder

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 24 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Pittsburgh

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Emergency Department

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

PRO10040186

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id