Effectiveness of Nurse-Conducted Brief Intervention (NCBI) Supplemented With Mobile-based Application for Monitoring and Relapse Prevention in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

A Meta-analysis including 34 studies showed that Brief Intervention helped in reducing the amount of alcohol consumption after a study duration of 1 year in comparison with the control group. In India, there have been few studies on Brief Intervention. A comparison study of Brief intervention versus simple advice for Alcohol Use Disorder was conducted in North India in 2007, which showed a slight advantage for Brief intervention. But the results were not showing a significant outcome and it was concluded that booster sessions were required. A review of literature revealed that comprehensive recovery management systems using the capabilities of smart-phones to provide a variety of tools and services that can be tailored to individuals, including in-the-moment assessments and access to peer discussion groups have the strongest theoretical base and have yielded the strongest and longest-lasting effects for management of alcohol use disorders. [10]. A study review revealed that smartphone application has the potential to monitor alcohol use and craving in the natural environment and deliver tailored treatment to users when they need it most. A study revealed that smartphone-delivered coping strategies for alcohol cravings are effective in reducing craving cued drinking and that craving cues related to drinking environments and drinking times of day represent fruitful areas of intervention focus.

JUSTIFICATION / NEED FOR THE STUDY The present studies suggest that a substantial proportion of patients with alcohol use disorders relapse to alcohol during the course of treatment. Efforts are required to delay and avoid such relapse and maintain abstinence by effective treatment approaches. A major barrier to care is the lack of adequately skilled human resources to deliver contextually appropriate treatments. Nurse-conducted Brief Intervention supplemented with mobile application-based can be a beneficial approach to prevent relapse and support patients in their journey to overcome alcohol addiction. It also promotes a more continuous and connected recovery process by enabling regular communication and data sharing between the user and their counsellor.

Proposed Methodology: Only males will be included in the study.

• Including women in this study would necessitate a gender-specific analysis [5], which could complicate the primary objective of evaluating the combined intervention of Nurse-Conducted Brief Intervention (NCBI) and a mobile based application.
• To maintain the internal validity of this study and to ensure a clear, focused evaluation of the intervention, the investigators have chosen to initially focus on male participants.
• The non-availability of female patients or a smaller number of female patients according to hospital admission records diagnosed with alcohol dependence admitted to the hospital ward due to stigma will also affect the data collection process.
• Future studies will aim to address the effectiveness of these interventions specifically for women, considering their unique needs and responses to treatment.

SAMPLE SIZE and the BASIS for the same: