Utility, acceptability and efficacy of wearable transdermal alcohol monitoring

Electronic alcohol intervention has demonstrated effectiveness in reducing harmful alcohol consumption (Donoghue et al., 2014). However, implementation in smartphone/mobile technologies has failed to show similar results (Milward et al, 2015). Transdermal alcohol sensors (worn on the skin) and mobile phone-based blood alcohol concentration (BAC) calculators hold promise in improving user’s engagement with a monitoring app.

They have the potential to accurately assess alcohol consumption and trigger real-time interventions. These methods of data collection can capture real-time information-process determinants helping to build more accurate models of change.

The team will validate and evaluate different wearable transdermal alcohol sensors and associated apps. They will assess the acceptability and feasibility of their use among a sample of harmful and dependent alcohol users, in order to identify the optimal methods of implementing wearable transdermal alcohol sensor monitoring for harmful drinkers in collaboration with multicentre partners across England. They also plan to estimate the health economic impact of implementation and identify the optimal methods of integration into clinical care.