title: The Impact of Mobile Apps on Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review Protocol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is among the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide and is associated with a diverse range of physical and psychological comorbidities. Despite various types of treatment, there are many barriers to accessing treatment (ie, stigma, cost, accessibility of service, etc). Mobile apps have the potential to overcome these barriers and provide support to those who need it.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of mobile apps in reducing alcohol consumption for individuals with AUD and understand the psychological outcomes of using the apps (ie, client empowerment, self-efficacy, etc).
  
  
  METHODS
  The search strategy was applied to 7 health sciences and interdisciplinary databases. Two reviewers will independently assess all titles and abstracts for relevance and then full texts of relevant articles for eligibility. To be included, the article must be a quantitative evaluation of clinical outcomes using the intervention and the intervention must be a consumer-facing app focused on supporting individuals with AUD. Two reviewers will independently extract data from all eligible articles using a standardized extraction worksheet and will independently assess the study quality. A meta-analysis will be conducted if appropriate. Depending on outcomes reported, pooled risk ratios or standardized mean differences will be calculated and reported in the review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The search strategy yielded 699 unique citations. Of those, 63 (9.0%, 63/699) articles were assessed as relevant for full-text review. The full-text reviews are currently underway and the final review is projected to be completed in the summer of 2017.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is potential for mobile apps to support individuals with AUD to reduce their alcohol consumption. This review will be the first to assess the effectiveness of AUD mobile apps and client experiences using the apps.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Antoine Sa
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7845-4852
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Sawares
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1788-8176
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Yunlin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6846-3077
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexxa
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0180-679X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abi-Jaoude
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2748-2658
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wiljer
keywords: addiction; alcohol use disorder; alcoholism; apps; mental health; mobile health; protocol; systematic review