Zhang MWB, Ward J, Ying JJB, Pan F, Ho RCM. (2016). The alcohol tracker application: An initial evaluation of user preferences. BMJ Innovations, 2:8-13. PMCID: PMC4789684
Most publicly available mobile applications (apps) for alcohol consumption are for entertainment purposes or have no clinical evidence supporting them. Initial evaluations of apps for the treatment of alcohol use disorders have shown some promise in reducing alcohol consumption. The authors of this paper developed an app for tracking alcohol consumption targeting at-risk drinkers and collected user perceptions of the app. Crowdsourcing was used to recruit 100 participants from the general population of Canada. Participants were between the ages of 18 and 75 and were paid $0.10 for their participation. The app included functions such as logs to record alcohol consumptions, notification for dangerous alcohol use, information about alcohol consumption, and resources. Participants completed assessments of smartphone ownership, and evaluation of the app. Participants indicated that the notifications and information were the most useful components and therapeutic resources were the least useful. Women reported that the notification feature was the most useful function of the app and were more likely than men to report that the log would be useful. Men thought information would be most useful. Younger participants were more likely to own a smartphone than older participants. Men were more likely than women to use Android phones; women were more likely to use iPhones. Results highlight the importance of user recommendations and preferences in the development of interventions.