Alcohol Metabolism and Disease Risk in Asians

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: The primary pathway of alcohol metabolism involves two main enzymes, alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase. Several genes that encode these enzymes have variants that alter the rate of alcohol metabolism and increase levels of acetaldehyde. The variant ALDH2\*2 allele is associated with the flushing response (i.e., Asian glow) and is found almost exclusively in individuals of east Asian descent. Although having variant ALDH2 alleles is protective against heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders, for those who do drink, these variants also are associated with elevations in risk for several health problems. The premise of this study is that we can affect early drinking behavior through personalized communication about these health-related risks.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

All participants will be of Asian heritage (i.e. Chinese/Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese).
About half of the sample will be incoming first-year undergraduates
About half of the sample will be current undergraduates who self-report having flushed when they first started drinking alcohol

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Peak Number of Alcohol Drinks Consumed in a Day	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Drinking quantity (i.e. total number of alcoholic drinks) consumed on heaviest drinking day

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Drinking Days	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Number of days consumed alcohol in the past month
Number of Alcoholic Drinks Consumed on Weekend	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Alcohol quantity (total number of drinks) consumed on a typical drinking weekend
Number of Alcoholic Drinks Consumed Weekly	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Total quantity (i.e. number of drinks) of alcohol consumed in a typical drinking week
Number of Participants Identified as Non-drinkers	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Number of Participants Identified as Non-drinkers (i.e. have not had alcohol beyond small sips or tastes)
Alcohol Flush Cure Use Rate	Baseline through 10-months post-intervention (which occurred on 1 day)	Proportion of time used a product to reduce flushing when drinking alcohol

Locations (1): University of Southern California
🇺🇸
Los Angeles, California, United States
University of Southern California
🇺🇸Los Angeles, California, United States