Smartphone Application for University Students With Binge Drinking Behavior

Overview

Alcohol use is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injury conditions (see ICD-10) and in France, alcohol is the first cause of hospitalization. Binge drinking (BD) has emerged as a major public health issue among student populations and is associated with negative consequences and social, cognitive and brain alterations. More than half of French university students have reported BD in the past month and are at increased risk of several alcohol-related consequences such as memory and sleep impairments, and reduced quality of life. BD is also a major risk factor in the development of alcohol addiction, with individual and environmental factors playing a role that is still poorly understood. Moreover, most students and young adults are reluctant to seek interventions when it is provided by health care professionals (only 4-5%) and have poor insight with regard to their alcohol use patterns / habits. Thus, there is an urgent need for developing effective prevention and intervention programs to reduce alcohol drinking in students. Recent studies have demonstrated that new types of technology-delivered interventions are promising tools for addressing unhealthy alcohol use. For example, an uncontrolled trial pilot study using a smartphone application-delivered intervention produced a reduction in both number of drinks per week and BD from baseline to 3-month follow-up. A recent review also showed significant outcomes of a mobile health intervention for self-control of unhealthy alcohol use. The investigators hypothesize that a timeline follow-back and personalized feedback based on the use of a mobile application can reduce excessive alcohol intake at 3-months. This study will provide scientific knowledge about BD in students, but also regarding a new type of intervention that could be effective for prevention in non-treatment seeking individuals and reducing the severity of health problems associated with excessive alcohol intake.