title: Internet-based brief intervention for young men with unhealthy alcohol use: a randomized controlled trial in a general population sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the efficacy of an internet-based brief intervention (IBI) in decreasing alcohol use among young Swiss men aged 21 years on average.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two parallel-group randomized controlled trial with a 1 : 1 allocation ratio containing follow-up assessments at 1 and 6 months post-randomization
  
  
  METHODS
  Internet-based study in a general population sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one-year-old men from Switzerland with unhealthy alcohol use (> 14 drinks/week or ≥ 6 drinks/occasion at least monthly or Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores ≥ 8) INTERVENTION: IBI consisting of (1) normative feedback, (2) feedback on consequences of alcohol use, (3) calorific value of reported consumption, (4) computed blood alcohol concentration for reported consumption, (5) indication of risk, (6) information on alcohol and health and (7) recommendations indicating low-risk drinking limits. Control condition: no intervention (assessment only).
  
  
  METHODS
  At 1 and 6 months: quantity/frequency questions on alcohol use (primary outcome: number of drinks/week) and binge drinking prevalence; at 6 months: AUDIT score, consequences of drinking (range = 0-12).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Follow-up rates were 92% at 1 month and 91% at 6 months. At 6 months, participants in the intervention group (n = 367) reported greater reductions in the number of drinks/week than participants in the control group (n = 370) [treatment × time interaction, incidence rate ratio (RR) = 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.78; 0.96], but no significant differences were observed on binge drinking prevalence. There was a favourable intervention effect on AUDIT scores (IRR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.88; 0.98), but not on the number of consequences (IRR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.84; 1.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An internet-based brief intervention directed at harmful alcohol use among young men led to a reduction in self-reported alcohol consumption and AUDIT scores compared with a no-intervention control condition (assessment only).
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bertholet
authors.affiliation: Center for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faouzi
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaume
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gmel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Burnand
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Treatment Center, Department of Community Medicine and Health, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Bernard
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Daeppen
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000628:therapy; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000628:therapy*; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000628:therapy*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D013557:Switzerland; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol; brief intervention; general population; internet; randomized trial; young men