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Helping Problem Drinkers on the Internet

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborator:
Health Canada
Information provided by:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01114919
First received: April 30, 2010
Last updated: December 1, 2010
Last verified: December 2010
History of Changes
  Purpose

The main aim of this study is to compare the impact of a minimal and a full Internet-based self-help intervention for problem drinkers in the general population.


Condition Intervention
Alcohol Dependence
 Behavioral: Check Your Drinking (CYD)
Behavioral: Alcohol Help Centre (AHC)

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Safety Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Official Title: Helping Problem Drinkers on the Internet

Resource links provided by NLM:

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Frequency of consumption [ Time Frame: 6 months and 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Usual number of drinks per occasion [ Time Frame: 6 months and 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Frequency of consuming 5 or more drinks on one occasion [ Time Frame: 6 months and 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Typical weekly consumption [ Time Frame: 6 months and 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Highest number of drinks on one occasion [ Time Frame: 6 months and 12 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Estimated Enrollment: 246
Study Start Date: May 2010
Primary Completion Date: November 2010 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Intervention Details:
    Behavioral: Check Your Drinking (CYD)
    Internet based program of lower intensity as compared to the "Alcohol Help Centre. It was designed to assesses drinking patterns, increase self-awareness of individual triggers, and set and achieve goals regarding abstinence.
    Behavioral: Alcohol Help Centre (AHC)
    Internet based program of higher intensity as compared to the "Check Your Drinking" intervention. It was designed to assesses drinking patterns, increase self-awareness of individual triggers, and set and achieve goals regarding abstinence.
Detailed Description:

Many problem drinkers never access any treatment services. Because of the individual as well as societal costs of heavy alcohol consumption, it is essential to find ways to intervene and provide assistance to problem drinkers. The Internet takes treatment to problem drinkers rather than requiring them to come to treatment, resulting in increased options for help for alcohol abusers. There is a preponderance of internet websites which are designed for self change in areas that include alcohol use. To date, however, there has been minimal scientific evaluation regarding the efficacy and safety of such programs.

Our own previous research found that we could reduce alcohol consumption by about three drinks per week at a six-month follow-up using a minimal, personalized feedback Internet-based intervention. Building on this, the current project will attempt to increase the impact of Internet-based interventions as well as produce sustained reductions in drinking by adding an extended online self-help service to this already promising minimal intervention. More specifically, this randomized, double blinded study will compare and evaluate the efficacy of two different degrees of treatment intervention for problem drinkers: a minimal one ("Check your Drinking") and a full one ("Alcohol Help Centre").

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   19 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Resident of Ontario
  • 19 years of age or over
  • Have consumed alcohol in the one month prior to the telephone survey.
  • Have consumed alcohol in the one month prior to the telephone survey.
  • A score of 8 or over on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
  • Indicate an interest in receiving self-help materials
  • Have home access to the Internet
  • Are willing to participate in follow-up at six and twelve month intervals

Exclusion Criteria:

  • None
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01114919

Locations
Canada, Ontario
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 1R8
Sponsors and Collaborators
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Health Canada
Investigators
Principal Investigator: John Cunningham, PhD Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
  More Information

Additional Information:
Information about research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and a PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre.  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

No publications provided by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Additional publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Responsible Party: Dr. John Cunningham, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01114919     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: 282/2009
Study First Received: April 30, 2010
Last Updated: December 1, 2010
Health Authority: Canada: Health Canada

Keywords provided by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health:
Problem drinking
Alcohol dependence
Alcohol abuse
 Internet based intervention
Treatment
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Alcoholism
Alcohol-Related Disorders
Substance-Related Disorders
Mental Disorders
Ethanol
Anti-Infective Agents, Local
 Anti-Infective Agents
Therapeutic Uses
Pharmacologic Actions
Central Nervous System Depressants
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Central Nervous System Agents

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 19, 2013