Alcohol assessment and feedback by email for university students: main findings from a randomised controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
Brief interventions can be efficacious in changing alcohol consumption and increasingly take advantage of the internet to reach high-risk populations such as students.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief online intervention, controlling for the possible effects of the research process.


METHODS
A three-arm parallel groups design was used to explore the magnitude of the feedback and assessment component effects. The three groups were: alcohol assessment and feedback (group 1); alcohol assessment only without feedback (group 2); and no contact, and thus neither assessment nor feedback (group 3). Outcomes were evaluated after 3 months via an invitation to participate in a brief cross-sectional lifestyle survey. The study was undertaken in two universities randomising the email addresses of all 14 910 students (the AMADEUS-1 study, trial registration: ISRCTN28328154).


RESULTS
Overall, 52% (n = 7809) of students completed follow-up, with small differences in attrition between the three groups. For each of the two primary outcomes, there was one statistically significant difference between groups, with group 1 having 3.7% fewer risky drinkers at follow-up than group 3 (P = 0.006) and group 2 scoring 0.16 points lower than group 3 on the three alcohol consumption questions from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) (P = 0.039).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides some evidence of population-level benefit attained through intervening with individual students.
Jim McCambridge, PhD, Faculty of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Marcus Bendtsen, MSc, Department of Medicine and Health, and Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Nadine Karlsson, PhD, Department of Medicine and Health, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Ian R. White, PhD, MRC, Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Public Health, Cambridge, UK; Per Nilsen, PhD, Preben Bendtsen, PhD, Department of Medicine and Health, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Jim
J
McCambridge
Marcus
M
Bendtsen
Nadine
N
Karlsson
Ian R
IR
White
Per
P
Nilsen
Preben
P
Bendtsen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D034742:Electronic Mail; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057194:Intention to Treat Analysis; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult