Reliability of a Timeline Followback measure of caffeinated coffee consumption.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The Timeline Followback (TLFB) was initially developed to collect retrospective self- reports of alcohol and drug use. Since its development, several peer-reviewed papers have supported it as a sound psychometric measure for substance use and for several other behaviors. Worldwide, coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages. Although early epidemiological research suggested that drinking coffee is associated with some health problems, several recent studies have found moderate coffee consumption to have an inverse association with mortality. Because of its widespread use, a psychometrically sound measure of coffee consumption would help better inform research and public health policies. DESIGN: This study investigated the test-retest reliability of a version of the TLFB modified to assess coffee consumption. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: 98 clinical psychology doctoral students completed a 30-day coffee TLFB on two occasions separated by 14 days. MEASUREMENTS: Participants used a computerized Survey Monkey™ version of the coffee TLFB to report their caffeinated coffee consumption for the same 30-day interval. For the first administration participants reported their consumption for the preceding 30 days, and for the second administration they reported on the preceding 45 days which included the earlier reporting interval. FINDINGS: Reliability coefficients were found to be very high (0.90-0.97). CONCLUSIONS: As with other substance use versions of the TLFB, these results suggest the TLFB is a good method for measuring coffee consumption in research studies and in primary health care settings where such data may be important.

Evaluating alcohol use among Russian women at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy: A comparison of three measures of alcohol use.

The Quick Drinking Screen (QDS) and Timeline Followback (TLFB), measures of alcohol use, have yielded similar reports of drinking with English speakers. The present study, a secondary data analysis, compared three measures of alcohol use (i.e., QDS, TLFB, and AUDIT) among Russian-speaking women. This is the first study to compare all three measures. This study replicated the findings of studies with English speakers and demonstrated that brief screening measures (QDS, AUDIT) provide reliable summary measures of alcohol use when compared to a detailed drinking measure (TLFB). The use of brief screening measures is recommended for use with Russian women.

Reducing alcohol consumption to minimize weight gain and facilitate smoking cessation among military beneficiaries.

INTRODUCTION: Smoking cessation-related weight gain can have significant negative health and career consequences for military personnel. Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation may decrease weight gain and relapse. METHOD: A randomized clinical trial of military beneficiaries compared a standard smoking cessation (i.e., brief informational) intervention (N=159), with a brief motivational smoking cessation intervention that emphasized reduced drinking to lessen caloric intake and minimize weight gain (N=158). RESULTS: Participants who received the motivational intervention were significantly more likely to quit smoking at the 3-month follow-up (p=0.02), but the differences were not maintained at 6 (p=0.18) or 12months (p=0.16). Neither weight change nor alcohol reduction distinguished the 2 groups. Smoking cessation rates at 12months (motivational group=32.91%, informational group=25.79%) were comparable to previous studies, but successful cessation was not mediated by reduced drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol reduction combined with smoking cessation did not result in decreased weight gain or improved outcomes.

Preventing Alcohol-Exposed Pregnancies: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Self-Administered Version of Project CHOICES with College Students and Nonstudents.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEPs) are a preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities for which many women are at risk. The initial 5-session Project CHOICES intervention was found to prevent AEPs. In the ensuing decade, there have been several additional CHOICES-like studies. This study, Project Healthy CHOICES, had 2 objectives: (i) to compare outcomes for students versus nonstudents; and (ii) to test a self-administered mail-based version of the Project CHOICES intervention. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared 2 interventions for women of childbearing age (18 to 44) who were at risk of an AEP: (i) motivational feedback based on Project CHOICES and (ii) information only. Advertisements recruited 354 women (145 college students; 209 nonstudents) at risk of an AEP. Intervention and study materials were available in English and Spanish. Of the 354 women, 44% were minorities (25% identified as Hispanics). RESULTS: At the 6-month follow-up, the interventions did not differ and there was no Intervention by Student Study interaction. However, over the entire 6-month follow-up, significantly more students (68%) than nonstudents (46%) were not at risk of an AEP (2.1 odds ratio; confidence interval = 1.47 to 2.95). For all groups, risk reduction occurred primarily through effective contraception. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference between the 2 interventions. However, over the entire 6-month follow-up interval, college students were significantly more likely than nonstudents to not be at risk of an AEP and to use effective contraception. While the student groups had significantly higher reduced risk of AEP outcomes, there was also substantial risk reduction for women in the information only condition. These results suggest that the most effective AEP prevention efforts would be to inform women at risk that they could become pregnant. Because about half of all pregnancies are unplanned, identifying women at risk and preventing the risk of AEPs should be a public health priority.

Two Brief Measures of Alcohol Use Produce Different Results: AUDIT-C and Quick Drinking Screen.

BACKGROUND: Several psychometrically sound measures of alcohol use have been developed to assess drinking. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and its shorter counterpart the AUDIT-C, which contains the first 3 AUDIT questions, were developed by the World Health Organization and have become the preferred brief measures for screening and evaluating problem severity. This study compared the first 3 questions on the AUDIT with another psychometrically sound brief measure of alcohol use, the Quick Drinking Screen (QDS). METHODS: Data were obtained from a randomized controlled trial of a mail-based intervention promoting self-change with 472 alcohol abusers (n = 280, no prior alcohol treatment; n = 192, prior alcohol treatment). Participants' retrospective self-reports of alcohol consumption were collected using the QDS and the 3 AUDIT-C questions and compared. Although both measures contain similar questions (2 quantity-frequency and 1 binge drinking), they differ in 2 important ways: (i) temporal interval over which data are collected, and (ii) formatting of response options (i.e., a continuous number vs. categorical). RESULTS: Intraclass correlations for drinking variables were moderate to moderately high. A repeated-measures MANOVA using treatment condition and gender as variables revealed significant differences in absolute values between the 2 drinking measures with the QDS showing greater consumption on almost all variables. Participants' numerical answers on the QDS were compared to their categorical answers to the similar alcohol use questions on the AUDIT-C. The comparison revealed that participants' answers on the AUDIT-C were associated with extreme variability compared to their QDS answers. This variability suggests the AUDIT-C would be unreliable as a quantitative measure of alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The differences between the 3 alcohol use questions on the AUDIT-C and the same questions on the QDS may reflect the imprecision of the AUDIT-C's drinking response categories. Results suggest that the QDS can be used to identify risky drinking and to provide a more informative characterization of a drinker's alcohol consumption than that provided by the AUDIT-C.

Preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies among Hispanic women.

Project Healthy CHOICES, a self-administered, mail-based prevention intervention, was developed for women at risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP). Participants were sent their assessment and study materials through the United States Postal Service. This article uses data from a larger study (N = 354) and focuses on the 89 women who identified as Hispanic. Potential participants who called in response to English and Spanish ads and who said they could read and write Spanish were given a choice of receiving the intervention materials in English or Spanish. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate differences in outcomes as a function of (a) the language in which the intervention materials were received, and (b) the participants' acculturation levels. Prior to the study, all women were at risk of an AEP. At the 6-month follow-up, two thirds (66%) of all Hispanic women had reduced their overall risk of an AEP, primarily by practicing effective birth control. These outcomes are similar to those reported for previous Project CHOICES studies. Significantly more women who requested the intervention materials in English (75%) compared to Spanish (41%) reduced their overall risk of an AEP. Women with high English cultural domain scores were at significantly less risk of an AEP due to effective contraception and a reduced overall risk of an AEP. Compared to other Project CHOICES studies, Project Healthy CHOICES is less intensive; it is self-administered, freely available, and can be completed without visiting a health care practitioner or clinic.

Bridging the Gap Between Scientists and Practitioners: The Challenge Before Us - Republished Article.

The need to develop effective and efficient strategies for the dissemination of evidence-based health care has been recognized by governments, researchers, and clinicians alike. However, recognition and implementation are separate issues. If scientists are to have a significant impact on clinical practice, they will have to learn a new way of "doing business." Lessons from the business community and from the field of diffusion of innovations research (dissemination research) have direct applicability to disseminating science-based clinical procedures. This paper presents two examples of the successful integration of science and clinical practice. The goal in each case was to address problems fundamental to dissemination research, specifically for addictions treatment. The first example demonstrates how scientists and practitioners successfully worked hand-in-hand to integrate science and practice, by creating a clinical protocol that subsequently served almost 300 clients. The second example describes the successful dissemination of a clinical research intervention into community settings. The key to effective dissemination was to make practitioners true partners in the research, development, and dissemination process. For the effective wedding of clinical science and practice on a wide scale, dissemination must be adopted as a value and become a major objective of health care organizations. Current health care emphasis on evidence-based practice suggests that alliances between practitioners and scientists will point the way to clinical standards of practice for the next millennium.

Craigslist versus print newspaper advertising for recruiting research participants for alcohol studies: Cost and participant characteristics.

INTRODUCTION: Technology has transformed our lifestyles in dramatic and significant ways, including new and less expensive options for recruiting study participants. This study examines cost and participant differences between two recruitment sources, Craigslist (CL), and print newspapers (PNs). This paper also reviewed and compared studies involving clinical trials published since 2010 that recruited participants using CL alone or in combination with other methods. METHOD: Secondary data analyses from a parent study involving a randomized controlled trial of a mail-based intervention to promote self-change with problem drinkers. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between CL and PN participants on most demographic and pretreatment drinking variables. While all participants had AUDIT scores suggestive of an alcohol problem and reported drinking at high-risk levels, CL participants had less severe drinking problem histories, were considerably younger, and had a higher socioeconomic status than PN participants. The total advertising costs for the 65 CL ads ($275) were significantly less than the 69 PN ads ($33, 311). The recruiting cost per eligible participant was vastly less expensive using CL ($1.46) compared to print newspaper ads ($116.88). CONCLUSIONS: Using CL is a viable recruitment method for soliciting participants, particularly those that are younger, for alcohol intervention studies. It is also less expensive than newspaper ads. When CL participants were recruited, they reported being slightly more confident to change their drinking than PN participants. Limitations of using CL are discussed, including that some initial ad responders gave inconsistent answers to similar questions and a few tried to enter the study more than once.

Using a single binge drinking question to identify Russian women at risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION: Low rates of contraception and at-risk drinking place many Russian women at risk of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP). The only realistic way to determine when women are at risk of AEP is by self-reports. A U.S. study found that a single binge-drinking question (SBD) effectively identified nearly all women whose drinking placed them at risk of AEP. METHODS: The present study replicated the U.S. STUDY: Participants were 689 non-pregnant Russian women of childbearing age who were at AEP risk. Their answers to SBD, "During the previous three months, how often did you have four or more drinks on one occasion", were compared with their reports of binge drinking on a 90-day Timeline Followback (TLFB) calendar. RESULTS: The SBD identified 99% of at-risk Russian women as binge drinkers, replicating U.S. FINDINGS: Only 8% of the women were identified at-risk using a second AEP criterion of ≥8 drinks on average per week. Although Russian women did not report heavy weekly drinking and two-thirds did not meet AUDIT criteria for problem drinking, when they did drink, 40% of the time it was binge drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all Russian women who were at risk of an AEP were identified by a single binge-drinking question. Results from this study suggest that Russian health care practitioners can use SBD to successfully screen women for AEP risk. SBD identified 99% of Russian women who were at AEP risk. Consequently, it is recommended that SBD be incorporated into routine health care screenings at OB/GYN clinic visits.

Autobiographical narratives can be used with confidence to collect information about ex-smokers' reasons for quitting smoking.

Although autobiographical narratives (ABNs) provide rich descriptions of how people change addictive behaviors, psychometric evaluations of such reports are rare. 27 ex-smokers who had quit for 1 to 5 years were interviewed twice about why they quit. Participants' ABN reasons for why they quit smoking were compared with their answers on the Reasons For Quitting (RFQ) scale and found to be similar. Ex-smokers' ABNs are reliably reported for number and types of reasons given for quitting. Reasons ex-smokers gave in their ABNs were similar to their RFQ subscale answers. ABNs, a qualitative measure of quitting smoking, captured more information about how people quit smoking than quantitative scales.