Completed

Integrating mHealth for Alcohol Use Disorders Into Clinical Practice

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What is being tested

A-CHESS self-monitored

+ A-CHESS peer-supported

+ A-CHESS clinically-integrated

Behavioral
Who is being recruted

Alcohol Drinking

+ Behavior

+ Drinking Behavior

From 21 to 100 Years
+13 Eligibility Criteria
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Treatment Study

Interventional
Study Start: March 2020
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
Last updated: January 28, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Study start date: March 23, 2020

Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Patients in the trial will be given versions of an evidence-based mobile-health (mHealth) system (re-design based on A-CHESS) that is delivered using different implementation strategies according to study group. A-CHESS has more than 18 services designed to improve social relatedness, coping competence, and intrinsic motivation. The following describes key A-CHESS services that will be tested in the current study: * Welcome message - patients write why they are choosing to reduce their drinking. * Coping with Cravings - the system automatically notifies nearby pre-approved friends, family, and peers, who can respond to a request for support. The patient can also be linked to positive activities, such as suggested games to download and play and audio/video-based relaxation recordings. * Monitoring functionality- self-assessment measures, record of A-CHESS use, and prediction of the patient's likelihood of having a heavy drinking episode in the next week. A-CHESS sends patients with worrisome responses suggestions of coping skills, online peer support, healthy events, etc. With patient permission, a prediction of high-risk can be shared with others in a position to provide support. * Triage and feedback functionality is designed to derail a setback in goal attainment, giving the patient 'just in time,' tailored support by linking patients to relevant A-CHESS resources or individuals (depending on group assignment). * The Specialist Report, harvests clinically relevant data from A-CHESS and presents it to a peer mentor (in the peer-supported group) or a health coach (in the clinically integrated group), at which point they may intervene with patients (e.g., through texting in A-CHESS). * Facilitated discussion groups (in the clinically integrated group.) Discussions are monitored daily by an A-CHESS coach. * Library - information about healthy lifestyle choices, calendar of healthy events in the area, etc. * Drink tracker and report feature - patients to self-monitor their drinking and each week see a summary of how they did the past week. * Profiles about why patients want to reduce their drinking. All patients enrolled in the study will participate in a 3-month intervention period followed by a 9-month follow-up period, for a total of 12 months. All patient will undergo a 72-hour run-in period. After 72 hours, patients who remain in the study will be randomized to one of the following groups and receive the appropriate access to features. One group will operate independently; one group will have help from a peer-mentor; one group will be connected to a healthcare system by a health coach.

Official TitleIntegrating mHealth for Alcohol Use Disorders Into Clinical Practice
NCT04011644
Principal SponsorUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
Last updated: January 28, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details

558 patients to be enrolled

Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.

Treatment Study

These studies test new ways to treat a disease, condition, or health issue. The goal is to see if a new drug, therapy, or approach works better or has fewer side effects than existing options.



Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria

Any sex

Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.

From 21 to 100 Years

Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.

Healthy volunteers allowed

If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.

Conditions

Pathology

Alcohol DrinkingBehaviorDrinking Behavior

Criteria

9 inclusion criteria required to participate
are 21+ years old,

interested in learning about ways to reduce drinking,

willing to download and use A-CHESS,

lives in within the geographical boundaries of the UW Health system

Show More Criteria

4 exclusion criteria prevent from participating
has a severe alcohol use disorder (yes to 6+ items on the Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5)

have a current psychotic disorder

have an acute medical problem requiring immediate hospitalization

have a known terminal illness

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives

3 intervention groups are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups

Group I

Active Comparator
Patients of this group will continue receiving regular care from their physician with no interference from the two experimental groups. Patient subjects will download the app on their Android or Apple smart phone that will direct them to external information hosted on the internet that may help reduce their drinking (e.g., NIAAA resources). For the first 12 weeks, once a week patients can set a weekly goal related to their alcohol use or other health related behaviors (e.g., "I will only drink on Friday this week."). At the end of the week subjects will be prompted to take a weekly survey, which will include questions such as a variation of the brief alcohol monitor (BAM) and timeline followback. Patients will then receive feedback on the amount of drinks they had compared to their goal. Then the patient will set a new goal for the following week. Patients will complete quarterly surveys on the A-CHESS app to assess study outcomes.

Group II

Experimental
Patients will be asked to take the same surveys and have the access to the same information as the self-monitoring group. Patient subjects in this group will have access to discussion boards where they can talk to one another and have the ability to share and see stories of other patients. The only involvement of someone other than patients themselves in the peer-supported group will be by a sponsor (i.e., a dedicated user from the area with a sustained history of successful alcohol reduction). The sponsor will participate in discussion groups and encourage use of the system. Patient-reported feedback will be presented directly to the patient.

Group III

Experimental
Patients in the clinically integrated group will receive the same intervention as the peer-supported group aside from three differences: 1) patients have the option to share selected elements of their app data with the University of Wisconsin (UW) Health health coach, 2) the health coach will replace the role of the sponsor in the peer-support group, and 3) patients will have the option to attend an initial 60- to 90-minute and two 30-minute follow-up consultations with the health coach in-person, via phone, or via video chat.

Study Objectives

Primary Objectives

Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.

This study has 1 location

Suspended

UW Health at the American Center

Madison, United StatesOpen UW Health at the American Center in Google Maps
CompletedOne Study Center
Integrating mHealth for Alcohol Use Disorders Into Clinical Practice | PatLynk