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An Electronic Brief Alcohol Intervention for Women Attending a Breast Screening Service (Health4Her)

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Alcohol Drinking
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Interventions
Behavioral: Lifestyle health promotion
Behavioral: Brief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated)
Registration Number
NCT06019442
Lead Sponsor
Turning Point
Brief Summary

Alcohol is a major modifiable risk factor for female breast cancer; yet, awareness of this risk remains surprisingly low and is not systematically addressed in healthcare settings. This study aim to test the effectiveness of a co-designed, automated brief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated) in reducing women's drinking intentions, improving alcohol literacy, and reducing consumption.

Detailed Description

Alcohol is a major modifiable risk factor for female breast cancer, even in very low amounts. In Australia, alcohol consumption accounts for 6.6 per cent of cases in post-menopausal women, and 18 per cent of breast cancer deaths. Yet, awareness of this risk remains low and is not systematically addressed in healthcare settings. Embedding a brief alcohol intervention within lifestyle information offered to all women attending breast screening provides the opportunity to address harmful drinking in a discrete, non-judgmental way, to prevent alcohol-attributable breast cancer among this at-risk population.

Brief alcohol interventions are short, single-session programs typically offered in general practice settings to gather information on a person's alcohol consumption and, in a non confrontational way, provide strategies and motivate change to reduce consumption and related risk of harm. An automated brief alcohol intervention, self-completed on a device such as an iPad, is a low-cost, labour- and time-efficient approach that overcomes many of the issues of providing intervention within busy healthcare environments.

Building on the previous pilot trial of a prototype brief e-health intervention (which included alcohol-related questions asked by a researcher, and an animation viewed on an iPad that was activated by the researcher), the aim of the current study is to test the effectiveness of a co-designed, automated brief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated) in reducing women's drinking intentions, improving alcohol literacy, and reducing consumption.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
143
Inclusion Criteria
  • Female
  • 40+ years of age
  • Attending routine breast screening
  • With or without a breast cancer history
  • Reporting any level of alcohol consumption
Exclusion Criteria
  • Not able to read or comprehend English to enable participation
  • No access to a computer, tablet or smartphone to complete follow-up assessment
  • Women who are pregnant (also an exclusion from breast screening)
  • Participation in the pilot Health4Her trial

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Lifestyle health promotionLifestyle health promotionThe control arm will receive: * lifestyle health promotion focused on physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight for reducing breast cancer risk. Participants will receive an iPad and earphones to self-complete the control intervention. Lifestyle information will be delivered by way of an animation on an iPad, and a self-completed activity to reinforce intervention content.
Brief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated) + lifestyle health promotionLifestyle health promotionThe intervention arm will receive: * brief alcohol intervention * lifestyle health promotion focused on physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight for reducing breast cancer risk. Participants will receive an iPad and earphones to self-complete the intervention. Alcohol and lifestyle information will be delivered by way of an animation on an iPad, and self-completed activities to reinforce intervention content.
Brief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated) + lifestyle health promotionBrief alcohol intervention (Health4Her-Automated)The intervention arm will receive: * brief alcohol intervention * lifestyle health promotion focused on physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight for reducing breast cancer risk. Participants will receive an iPad and earphones to self-complete the intervention. Alcohol and lifestyle information will be delivered by way of an animation on an iPad, and self-completed activities to reinforce intervention content.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Drinking intentionsimmediately post-randomisation

Change in next-month drinking intentions (5-point scale: 1, not at all; 5, to a very large extent)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Drinking intentions - standard drinks4-weeks post-randomisation

Change in intended number of standard drinks consumed over the next month (composite of intention frequency/quantity response items)

Knowledge of other breast cancer risk factors4-weeks post-randomisation

Proportion of participants accurately identifying inactivity and excess weight as risk factors for breast cancer

Drinking intentions4-weeks post-randomisation

Change in next-month drinking intentions (5-point scale: 1, not at all; 5, to a very large extent)

Proportion of participants intending to reduce alcohol consumption4-weeks post-randomisation

Proportion of participants intending to reduce their next-month alcohol consumption (5-point scale: 1, not at all; 5, to a very large extent)

Knowledge of alcohol as a breast cancer risk factor4-weeks post-randomisation

Proportion of participants accurately identifying alcohol as a clear risk factor for breast cancer

Alcohol literacy4-weeks post-randomisation

Proportion of participants accurately identifying i) the increased breast cancer risk associated with drinking one average restaurant serve of wine a day; ii) the number of standard drinks in an average restaurant serve of red wine; iii) the maximum number of standard drinks per week recommended by current Australian Alcohol Guidelines (multiple-choice questions)

Alcohol consumption4-weeks post-randomisation

Among women who have had an alcohol drink in the past month, change in alcohol consumption (composite of frequency/quantity response items)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Maroondah BreastScreen

🇦🇺

Ringwood East, Victoria, Australia

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