University of Pittsburgh text message program effective at cutting binge drinking

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uops-uop112415.php

Public Release: 24-Nov-2015
University of Pittsburgh text message program effective at cutting binge drinking
Intervention program continued to reduce drinking after 9 months
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences

A University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine-led trial to test a text message-based program aimed at reducing binge drinking is the first to show that such an intervention can successfully produce sustained reductions in alcohol consumption in young adults.

The findings revealed that the first-of-its-kind program, designed by lead author Brian Suffoletto, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine at Pitt, reduced binge drinking and alcohol-related injuries when compared to a control group and a self-monitoring group. The positive effect continued six months after the program ended. The results have been published in the journal PLOS ONE and are now available online.

"Given the low cost to send text messages and the capacity to deliver them to almost every at-risk young adult, a text message-based intervention targeting binge drinking could have a public health impact on reducing both immediate and long-term health problems," said Dr. Suffoletto

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"Compared to in-person interventions with a clinician discussing drinking habits with a young adult in the emergency department, which requires time and resources not routinely available, suffers high variability in how it is performed, and has shown limited ability to produce lasting reductions in hazardous drinking among young adults, our text message-based intervention is scalable, provides uniform behavioral materials, and seems to produce meaningful, potentially life-saving results," said Dr. Suffoletto. "By interacting with these young adults in a way in which they are receptive to communicating, and reducing the stigma associated with traditional face-to-face counseling, text messages can provide the boost they need to control their drinking when they are at their most vulnerable to forget what is healthiest for them."