Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Drinkware is a charity that aims to change people’s drinking habits and help reduce alcohol abuse and the harm caused by drinking too much alcohol. This study looks at how well two different messages displayed on their website, one focusing on health risks and the other on how drinking too much alcohol can have an impact on personal appearance, do in encouraging people to do a self-assessment that gives them feedback on whether they are at risk of damaging their health or appearance and whether they then go on to seek help for their drinking habit.
Who can participate?
Anyone who uses the Drinkaware website. However, there will be a particular focus on analyzing data from women over 35 years as this group has been identified by Drinkaware as a priority target group.
What does the study involve?
People who visit the Drinkaware website between Monday 3rd November and Sunday 14th December 2014 are randomly allocated to see either a brief health risk or appearance alcohol awareness message via banner advertisement in a prominent central position on the website. If web users choose to click on this banner, they are taken to another webpage containing a second brief message reinforcing the banner advertisement and are encouraged to self-assess their drinking behaviour using an online test - the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - Consumption (AUDIT-C) questionnaire. AUDIT-C is a 3-item tool designed to see if someone is drinking alcohol at levels that may lower or increase risk to health. After they have completed the AUDIT-C questionnaire, participants are directed to a webpage containing their AUDIT-C risk score feedback and an extended health risk focused or appearance focused alcohol awareness message. At the bottom of this page, participants are provided with 3 help-seeking options including a number of web links containing information and providing access to resources and tools to encourage then to reduce the amount of alcohol they drink.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The benefit of participating is the opportunity to access a range of tools to help moderate alcohol consumption and improved recognition of what constitutes problem drinking. There is a risk that individuals find out they are drinking too much and do not access any of the support materials.
Where is the study run from?
The Drinkaware website (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
November 2014 to December 2014
Who is funding the study?
1. Drinkaware (UK)
2. Public Health England (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Miss Anna Sallis
anna.sallis@phe.gov.uk
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Miss Anna Sallis
ORCID ID
Contact details
Public Health England
2nd Floor Skipton House
80 London Road
London
SE16LH
United Kingdom
-
anna.sallis@phe.gov.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
N/A
Study information
Scientific title
Comparing web-based health and appearance framed messages to increase completion of the AUDIT-C alcohol self-assessment tool
Acronym
N/A
Study hypothesis
1. Hypothesis 1 (H1): There is a difference in the number of participants who start the AUDIT-C in those exposed to either a brief appearance-framed or health-risk-framed persuasive message.
2. Hypothesis 2 (H2): There is a difference in the number of participants who will complete the AUDIT-C in those exposed to a brief appearance-framed or health-risk-framed persuasive message.
3. Hypothesis 3 (H3): There is a difference in the number of participants who engage in help-seeking behaviour following exposure to either an appearance-framed or health-risk-framed persuasive message.
Ethics approval
Bristol University School of Economics, Finance and Management Research Ethics Committee, 15/09/2014
Study design
Cross-sectional pragmatic randomised trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Randomised controlled trial
Trial setting
Internet
Trial type
Treatment
Patient information sheet
There is no patient information material. Participants are invited to contact an email address at Drinkaware if they would like to know about any research taking place on the website during their use of it.
Condition
Excessive alcohol consumption
Intervention
Short health and appearance framed alcohol harms messages are presented on the homepage. Once clicked participants are taken to the AUDIT-C alcohol self-assessment questionnaire. The AUDIT-C is a modified short form of the full 10-item AUDIT questionnaire. Once completed health or appearance framed alcohol harms messages are fed back to participants with risky drinking patterns. They are then shown three help-seeking web links which they can click and continue to use.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
1. Clicks to the AUDIT-C from home page
2. Completions of AUDIT-C
Measured between 11th November– 23rd December 2014
Secondary outcome measures
Clicks on help seeking links, measured between 11th November– 23rd December 2014
Overall trial start date
10/11/2014
Overall trial end date
21/12/2014
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Anyone accessing the Drinkaware homepage between Monday 3rd November and Sunday 14th December 2014
Participant type
All
Age group
All
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
75,000 home page visits
Participant exclusion criteria
There are no exclusion criteria
Recruitment start date
11/11/2014
Recruitment end date
23/12/2014
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Public Health England
London
SE16LH
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Organisation
Public Health England
Sponsor details
c/o Dr Elizabeth Coates
Head of Research Governance RDD
Public Health England
Porton
Salisbury
SP5 0JG
United Kingdom
-
anna.sallis@phe.gov.uk
Sponsor type
Government
Website
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
Public Health England
Alternative name(s)
PHE
Funding Body Type
government organisation
Funding Body Subtype
Federal/National Government
Location
United Kingdom
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Plan to publish in peer reviewed journal by end of 2017.
IPD sharing statement
The current data sharing plans for the current study are unknown and will be made available at a later date.
Intention to publish date
31/12/2017
Participant level data
To be made available at a later date
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list