Short message service (SMS)-based intervention targeting alcohol consumption among university students: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Despite significant health risks, heavy drinking of alcohol among university students is a widespread problem; excessive drinking is part of the social norm. A growing number of studies indicate that short message service (SMS)-based interventions are cost-effective, accessible, require limited effort by users, and can enable continuous, real-time, brief support in real-world settings. Although there is emerging evidence for the effect of SMS-based interventions in reducing alcohol consumption, more research is needed. This study aims to test the effectiveness of a newly developed SMS-based intervention targeting excessive alcohol consumption among university and college students in Sweden. METHODS: The study is a two-arm randomized controlled trial with an intervention (SMS programme) and a control (treatment as usual) group. Outcome measures will be investigated at baseline and at 3-month follow up. The primary outcome is total weekly alcohol consumption. Secondary outcomes are frequency of heavy episodic drinking, highest estimated blood alcohol concentration and number of negative consequences due to excessive drinking. DISCUSSION: This study contributes knowledge on the effect of automatized SMS support to reduce excessive drinking among students compared with existing support such as Student Health Centres. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN.com, ISRCTN95054707 . Registered on 31 August 2016.
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Studies examining the feasibility and efficacy of SMS message boosters in BIs for alcohol use have taken place in HICs, but evidence is lacking on their use in LMICs, such as Tanzania.
“Previously, studies examining the feasibility and efficacy of SMS message boosters in BIs for alcohol use have taken place in HICs [33,67], but evidence is lacking on their use in LMICs, such as Tanzania.”
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References 21 · Cited by 14
- Authors
- Thomas, K., Bendtsen, M., Linderoth, C., Karlsson, N., Bendtsen, P., & Müssener, U.
- Affiliations
- Linköping University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Thomas, Kristin
- ORCID
- Venue
- Trials
- Published
- 2017-04-04
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 156-156
- ISSN
- 1745-6215 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5379716
- OpenAlex
- W2604808237
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 1.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Trials (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DiVA (Linkoping University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Folkhälsomyndigheten (05670-2014-6.2)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- short message service, text messaging intervention, alcohol consumption, university students, binge drinking, excessive drinking, mobile health, blood alcohol concentration, negative consequences of drinking, social norms
- MeSH terms
- Alcohol Drinking in College, Blood Alcohol Content, Female, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Research Design, Students, Sweden, Time Factors, Universities, Health Behavior, Cell Phone, Text Messaging, Binge Drinking
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