Abstract
Background: In recent years more and more electronic health behaviour interventions have been developed in order to reach individuals with an unhealthy behaviour such as risky drinking. This is especially relevant in university students who are among those who most frequently are risky drinkers. This study explored the acceptability and feasibility, in an unselected group of university students, of a fully automated multiple session alcohol intervention offering different modes of delivery such as email, SMS and Android. Material and Methods: A total of 11,283 students at Link?ping University in Sweden were invited to perform a single session alcohol intervention and among those accepting this (4916 students) a total of 24.7% accepted to further participate in the extended multiple intervention lasting 3 - 6 weeks. The students could choose mode of delivery, total length of the intervention (between 3 - 6 weeks) and number of messages per week (3, 5, or 7 per week). A follow-up questionnaire was applied after the intervention to which 82.7% responded. Results: most students wanted to receive the messages by email with the shortest intervention length (3 weeks) and as few messages as possible per week (3 messages). However, no major difference was seen regarding satisfaction with the length and frequency of the intervention despite chosen length and frequency. Most students also expressed satisfaction with the content of the messages and would recommend the intervention to a fellow student in need of reducing drinking. Discussion and Conclusion: Based upon feedback from the students, a multiple push-based intervention appears to be feasible to offer students interested in additional support after a single session alcohol intervention. In a forthcoming study we will further explore the optimal mode of delivery and length of intervention and number of messages per week.
Highlights
Alcohol continues to be a widely spread reason for a number of health problems, predominantly among young people [1]
In recent years more and more electronic health behaviour interventions have been developed in order to reach individuals with an unhealthy behaviour such as risky drinking
The proportion of students participating in the single session intervention were fairly similar comparing the different years with a slightly lower response rate for first-year students on 41% compared with 45% for students in years 2 and 3
Summary
Alcohol continues to be a widely spread reason for a number of health problems, predominantly among young people [1]. In recent years more and more electronic health behaviour interventions have been developed in order to reach individuals with an unhealthy behaviour such as risky drinking. This is especially relevant in university students who are among those who most frequently are risky drinkers. This study explored the acceptability and feasibility, in an unselected group of university students, of a fully automated multiple session alcohol intervention offering different modes of delivery such as email, SMS and Android. In a forthcoming study we will further explore the optimal mode of delivery and length of intervention and number of messages per week
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