Report: Targeted text messages can help young drinkers

A new study shows promising results from a text-messaging program targeted at young adults recently treated at a hospital for alcohol abuse or dependence.

The study, funded by a research grant by the Emergency Medicine Foundation and due to be published in the March 2012 issue of “Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research,” shows that text-messaging can help young adults reduce heavy drinking.

“When we used text-messaging to collect drinking data and to offer immediate feedback and support to young adults discharged from the emergency department, they drank less,” said lead study author Brian Suffoletto, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, in a press release “Each day in the U.S., more than 50,000 adults ages 18 to 24 visit hospital emergency departments and more than a third of them report current alcohol abuse or dependence. If not addressed, hazardous or binge drinking can lead to high rates of avoidable injuries and death.”

The 12-week text-messaging program focused on 45 young adults (age 18-24) who were discharged from one of three emergency departments, more than half of which indicated hazardous drinking behavior in a screening survey. The participants received a series of standard, automated text messages each week, asking them to cite the number of drinks they had and how often they drank. Targeted individuals were then asked if they would be willing to set a goal to reduce their drinking for the week.

Three months later, those who agreed to receive the messages had 3.4 fewer heavy drinking days during the preceding month and 2.1 fewer drinks per day, compared to a predetermined base. Those who were assessed but didn’t receive text messages increased their drinking over the course of the study, according to officials.

“Because we used an automated computer system, our intervention has the ability to provide text-messaging based feedback and support at large scale with minimal cost,” said Suffoletto. “Although larger studies are still needed to verify the efficacy and feasibility of this type of program, this appears to be a promising approach that could save the lives of young adults nationwide.”

Eric Wicklund

Editor of mHIMSS.org

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