Nurse-led Alcohol Brief Intervention Plus Mobile Personalized Chat-based Support on Reducing Alcohol Use in University Students

Nurse-led Alcohol Brief Intervention Plus Mobile Personalized Chat-based Support on Reducing Alcohol Use in University Students: a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aims to assess the effect of personalized support using instant messaging application on alcohol drinking reduction in university students proactively recruited from universities in Hong Kong.

The government has promoted Hong Kong as the Asian's wine hub with zero alcohol tax (ethanol ≤30%) since 2008, which causes dramatic increases in alcohol drinking and binge drinking rates. Alcohol use in youth is the leading cause of disability adjusted life-years loss. Most adult drinkers start drinking at age 18-21. Evidence shows that alcohol brief intervention (ABI) is effective reducing hazardous and harmful alcohol use in university students. The proposed trial aims to enhance the ABI by incorporating information communication technologies (ICTs) such as instant messaging (IM) Apps (e.g. WhatsApp and WeChat) to provide personalized, real-time chat-based support led by nurses. The aims of study are as follows:

1. To determine the main effect of the Intervention vs. Control group on alcohol consumption per week at 6-month (Primary)
2. To assess the effects on alcohol consumption per week at 12-month, AUDIT scores at 6 and 12-month, perceived usefulness of IM app at 12-month, intention to use IM app to reduce/quit drinking at 12-month, number of standard drinks, episode of binge drinking, episode of heavy drinking, planned drinking, Academic Role Expectation and Alcohol Scale, Alcohol Problems Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire 4-item, Perceived Stress Scale 4-item, Covid-19 related drinking behavioral changes, and self-efficacy to reduce/quit drinking at 6-month and 12-month
3. To identify mediators between intervention and outcomes to inform the potential mechanisms
4. To qualitatively explore experience on the interventions for reducing alcohol use and related harms

Inclusion Criteria:

• Student aged ≥18 years from local universities in Hong Kong
• Able to read and communicate in Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin)
• Likely to stay in Hong Kong for most of the time in the next 12 months
• Using IM Apps (WhatsApp or WeChat) installed on a smartphone
• Baseline AUDIT screening score ≥8

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having a history of psychiatric/psychological disease or currently on regular psychotropic medications
• Currently participating in treatments or programmes on reducing alcohol use