Does the serving-size of beer glasses matter for how much students drink on a night out?

ISRCTN ISRCTN95515814
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN95515814
Secondary identifying numbers BEER1
Submission date
26/05/2020
Registration date
31/05/2020
Last edited
28/05/2020
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Other
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
Excessive alcohol consumption amongst youths, especially students, poses serious health and risk problems. Research suggests that the serving-size of glasses in which alcohol is consumed may influence both the amounts poured, perceptions of portion size, drinking pace as well as purchasing and consumption behaviour. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of reducing the standard serving size, including size of glass, of beer by 20% on on-site beer consumption by students in a student bar.

Who can participate?
Guests at a large student dormitory bar in Copenhagen, Denmark

What does the study involve?
Beer glasses of two different sizes are placed in a random sequence under the bar desk. The students are either served free beer with a standard 50 cl serving size or a smaller 40 cl serving size during the first 2.5 hours of the student event. Consumption is measured by writing the students’ names on their glasses and then videotaping the glasses served from cameras placed underneath the bar desk and monitoring the students throughout the night.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The possible benefits and risks are that participants might get tipsy.

Where is the study run from?
Roskilde University (Denmark)

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study took place in April 2017

Who is funding the study?
Investigator initiated and funded

Who is the main contact?
Pelle Guldborg Hansen
pgh@ruc.dk

Contact information

Mr Pelle Guldborg Hansen
Scientific

Hammers Høi Kaj, 4, 5.th.
Copenhagen
1402
Denmark

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-0042-0852
Phone +45 (0)2789 8789
Email pgh@ruc.dk

Study information

Study designRandomised controlled field experiment
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Other
Study typePrevention
Participant information sheet Not available
Scientific titleDoes the serving-size of beer glasses matter for how much students drink on a night out? A randomised controlled field experiment
Study acronymBEER
Study hypothesisThis experiment aimed to examine the impact of reducing the standard serving-size, including size of glass, of beer with 20% on on-site beer consumption by students in a student bar. The hypothesis was that the intervention would lead to a reduction.
Ethics approval(s)Approved 25/05/2020, The Committee for Research Ethics, Roskilde University (Institute for Communication Studies and Arts, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, Bld. 42.1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark; +45 (0)4674 2445; Ryberg@ruc.dk), no ref. number
ConditionExcessive alcohol consumption
InterventionAt a regular quiz night in a large student dormitory bar in Copenhagen, Denmark, beer glasses of two different sizes are placed in a randomised sequence under the bar desk. This allowed for randomly allocating the 103 participating students into two groups either served free beer with standard 50 cl serving size (n = 54) or smaller 40 cl serving size (n = 49) during the first 2.5 hours of the student event. Consumption is measured by writing the students’ names on their glasses and then videotaping the glasses served from cameras placed underneath the bar desk and monitoring the students throughout the night.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measureBeer served measured in centiliters by having bartenders pour beer to a particular line on the beer glasses and recording this with go-pro cameras during the first 2.5 hours of the student event
Secondary outcome measuresThere are no secondary outcome measures
Overall study start date20/04/2017
Overall study end date20/04/2017

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Healthy volunteer
Age groupAdult
SexBoth
Target number of participants103
Total final enrolment103
Participant inclusion criteriaGuests at a dormitory bar
Participant exclusion criteriaDoes not meet inclusion criteria
Recruitment start date20/04/2017
Recruitment end date20/04/2017

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Denmark

Study participating centre

Roskilde University
Universitetsvej 1
Roskilde
4000
Denmark

Sponsor information

Roskilde University
University/education

Universitetsvej 1
Roskilde
4000
Denmark

Phone +45 (0)4674 2000
Email ruc@ruc.dk
Website https://ruc.dk
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/014axpa37

Funders

Funder type

Other

Investigator initiated and funded

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/06/2020
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryAvailable on request
Publication and dissemination planIntended to be published in BMC Public Health.
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Pelle Guldborg Hansen (pgh@ruc.dk). Type of dataset: Excel. The data will be available as long as required conditional on an academic affiliation as a full-time researcher for all types of analyses. No need for consent from participants will be needed as the data is fully anonymised.

Editorial Notes

28/05/2020: Trial's existence confirmed by The Committee for Research Ethics, Roskilde University.