Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access originally published online on January 16, 2009
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2009 44(3):301-305; doi:10.1093/alcalc/agn124
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Self-Assessment of Drinking on the Internet—3-, 6- and 12-Month Follow-Ups
1 Department of Social Research, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
2 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
* Corresponding author: Department of Social Research, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. Tel: +358-50-3438426; Fax: +358-3-35516080; E-mail: anja.koski-jannes{at}uta.fi
Received 14 September 2008; first review notified 27 October 2008; in revised form 16 December 2008; accepted 22 December 2008; advance access publication 16 January 2009
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Abstract |
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Aim: The aim of this work was to report on the results of a pilot study of a web-based self-assessment service (DHT) for Finnish drinkers (www.paihdelinkki.fi/testaa/juomatapatesti). Method: During the 7-month recruitment period in 2004 altogether 22,536 anonymous self-assessments were recorded in the database of this service. The study sample was recruited from the 1598 service users who also participated to a survey evaluating the DHT. Those who consented by providing required baseline data and their e-mail address (n = 343) were sent a message asking them to fill in the follow-up questions 3, 6 and 12 months later. Their self-reported use of alcohol and drinking-related problems served as the main outcome variables in this single-group follow-up study. Results: At 3, 6 and 12 months, 78%, 69% and 61% of the study participants, respectively, responded to the follow-up. The intention-to-treat (ITT) results revealed significant reductions (P < 0.001) in all the outcome measures. The reductions occurred during the first 3 months, after which the changes were non-significant. Conclusions: The results are in line with previous studies with mostly shorter follow-up periods suggesting that Internet-based self-assessment services can be useful tools in reducing excessive drinking. A randomized controlled trial would, however, increase our certainty about the causes of the observed changes.