Electronic Interventions for Alcohol Misuse and Alcohol Use Disorders: A Systematic Review

The use of electronic interventions (e-interventions) may improve treatment of alcohol misuse.

To characterize treatment intensity and systematically review the evidence for efficacy of e-interventions, relative to controls, for reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related impairment in adults and college students.

MEDLINE (via PubMed) from January 2000 to March 2015 and the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and PsycINFO from January 2000 to August 2014.

English-language, randomized, controlled trials that involved at least 50 adults who misused alcohol; compared an e-intervention group with a control group; and reported outcomes at 6 months or longer.

Two reviewers abstracted data and independently rated trial quality and strength of evidence.

In 28 unique trials, the modal e-intervention was brief feedback on alcohol consumption. Available data suggested a small reduction in consumption (approximately 1 drink per week) in adults and college students at 6 months but not at 12 months. There was no statistically significant effect on meeting drinking limit guidelines in adults or on binge-drinking episodes or social consequences of alcohol in college students.

E-interventions that ranged in intensity were combined in analyses. Quantitative results do not apply to short-term outcomes or alcohol use disorders.

Evidence suggests that low-intensity e-inter ventions produce small reductions in alcohol consumption at 6 months, but there is little evidence for longer-term, clinically significant effects, such as meeting drinking limits. Future e-interventions could provide more intensive treatment and possibly human support to assist persons in meeting recommended drinking limits.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.