2023-08-17 15:47:12
The Addiction Medicine Service of the CHUV in Lausanne has developed a smartphone application intended to limit alcohol consumption among young people. Its effectiveness is demonstrated in a study published Thursday in the “British Medical Journal”.
“Alcohol consumption is one of the main causes of morbidity (ed. the prevalence of diseases) and mortality among young people”, underlines the Vaudois hospital center on Thursday in a press release. “However, risky drinking is common among students.”
With a view to intervening early, the Addiction Medicine Service of the CHUV Department of Psychiatry has therefore created, in collaboration with students from the University of Lausanne, EPFL and the hotel school ( EHL) and the Haute École de Santé Vaudoise (HESAV), a free application for smartphones.
Named “Smaart”, it offers six “modules”, the main one of which allows you to assess your consumption and indicate, if necessary, whether it presents health risks. It also offers to assess one’s blood alcohol level according to the number of drinks consumed, or to set goals or challenges to regulate one’s consumption.
Nearly 1,800 young people tested
Its effectiveness was scientifically evaluated with 1,770 students from these Lausanne universities between April 26, 2021 and May 30, 2022. Some (884) used the application during this period, while a control group (886 people ) continued to report his alcohol consumption without having access to it.
Two measures were examined: the total volume of alcohol consumed and the number of days of excessive consumption, namely four or more drinks in the same day for women and five or more drinks for men, explains the CHUV.
The results show that this application made it possible to limit alcohol consumption during the twelve months of the study. Both a decrease in the number of alcoholic beverages consumed per week and a decrease in the number of days of heavy drinking were observed.
Principle of self-assessment
This study, funded by the Swiss National Fund (SNSF), is one of the first to show the effectiveness of a selective prevention application for risky alcohol consumption, says the CHUV. In addition, Smaart allows “to initiate a reflection on its consumption by monitoring it and its evolution over time” as well as by “comparing it to those of people of the same age in Switzerland”, adds the press release.
The tool thus offers “a self-assessment of one’s risk-taking outside the framework of a consultation”, underlines Professor Nicolas Bertholet, assistant doctor in the Department of Addiction Medicine at the CHUV and first author of the study.
“It allows a prevention message to be disseminated to a large group of young adults, including people who would not necessarily want to talk to someone regarding their alcohol consumption, whether it is a loved one or a professional”, he completes.
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