Assessment of alcohol intake: Retrospective measures versus a smartphone application

Research investigating problem drinking often relies on retrospective measures to assess alcohol consumption behaviour. Limitations associated with such instruments can, however, distort actual consumption levels and patterns. We developed the smartphone application (app), CNLab-A, to assess alcohol intake behaviour in real-time.

Healthy individuals (N=671, M age 23.12) completed demographic questions plus the Alcohol Use Questionnaire and a 21-day Timeline Followback before using CNLab-A for 21days. The app asked participants to record alcohol consumption details in real time. We compared data reported via retrospective measures with that captured using CNLab-A.

On average, participants submitted data on 20.27days using CNLab-A. Compared to Timeline Followback, a significantly greater percentage of drinking days (24.79% vs. 26.44%) and significantly higher total intake (20.30 vs. 24.26 standard drinks) was recorded via the app. CNLab-A captured a substantially greater number of high intake occasions at all levels from 8 or more drinks than Timeline Followback. Additionally, relative to the Alcohol Use Questionnaire, a significantly faster rate of consumption was recorded via the app.

CNLab-A provided more nuanced information regarding quantity and pattern of alcohol intake than the retrospective measures. In particular, it revealed higher levels of drinking than retrospective reporting. This will have implications for how particular at-risk alcohol consumption patterns are identified in future and might enable a more sophisticated exploration of the causes and consequences of drinking behaviour.