The latest medical research on Addiction Medicine

Existing binge drinking reduction interventions such as brief intervention and personalized normative feedback have shown modest impact. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility (recruitment and retention rates), acceptability, and preliminary efficacy testing of a short-term "know your numbers (KYN)" intervention on motivating young adults to reduce their engagement in binge drinking.

Young adults (N=94, mean age 21 years) with a history of binge drinking received a 4-week KYN intervention that included information about their U.S. Alcohol Use Disorders Test (USAUDIT) scores and the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) level in relationship to different risk levels of alcohol use. At baseline and 4-weeks, measures included USAUDIT scores, PEth levels, motivation (Alcohol Contemplation Ladder) and other drinking measures. Focus groups were conducted at 4-weeks for feedback on the KYN approach.

The recruitment rate was 82.26% (retention rate 76.9%). At 4-weeks there was a 62% increase in contemplation scores (indicating higher motivation), a decrease in USADUIT scores with an increase in the percent of participants classified as low-risk drinkers. No differences were found between baseline and 4-week PEth levels or number of binge episodes. Focus group results revealed satisfaction with the KYN approach but the need to understand how PEth levels and USAUDIT scores corresponded to health consequences and alcohol use levels.

Results from this pilot study support the acceptability and potential use of a KYN approach in helping young adults understand their drinking levels.

Some claims on alcohol labels highlight virtuous aspects of brands or products, including in health-, eco-, and cause-oriented domains (including charity partnerships, or ethical or humanitarian certifications). This virtue marketing may create a 'halo' whereby consumers generalise from specific attributes to a more favourable overall appraisal of the product, brand, or even alcohol or the alcohol industry in general. This study aims to describe the prevalence of and trends over time in virtue marketing on the packaging of new alcohol (including lower and zero alcohol) products on the Australian market.

Records of N=4,024 new alcohol products released in Australia between 2013 and 2023 were extracted from Mintel Global New Products Database. Health-, eco-, and cause-oriented claims on packaging were summarised across product types and time, and co-occurrence between claims was assessed.

Virtue marketing appeared on 36.5% of new alcohol products, of which health-oriented claims were most common (32.5%), followed by eco- (6.3%) and cause-oriented claims (2.0%). The prevalence of each claim category and virtue marketing overall significantly increased over time (each p<.001) and varied by product type. New alcohol products displayed as many as eight different types of claims and all claims tended to co-occur with at least two others.

Virtue marketing is prevalent on new alcohol products in Australia and has recently increased. While product packaging can provide useful consumer information, health-, eco-, and cause-oriented claims may exploit consumers' motivation to make healthy, sustainable, and socially responsible choices despite alcohol being detrimental in these areas.

Problematic usage of the internet (PUI) is an umbrella term for a range of uncontrolled, excessive, and potentially harmful online behaviors. Recently, numerous studies have examined the potential of mindfulness programs (MPs) for reducing PUI. We conducted a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis in this emerging field.

We searched eight databases from inception to October 18, 2022, with no language restrictions. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and nonrandomized trials (NRTs). The primary outcome was change in self-reported PUI, the secondary outcome was change in screen time.

Of 3,473 identified records, 19 RCTs and 20 NRTs with a total of 1,549 participants were included. Participation in an MPwas associated with large reductions in PUI in between-group analysis in RCTs (k = 19; g = -1.67; 95% CI -2.15, -1.19) and in within-group pre-post analysis in all studies (k = 35; g = -1.67; 95% CI -1.99, -1.36). Screen time showed a medium reduction in within-group pre-post analysis (k = 10; g = -0.65; 95% CI -0.90, -0.41). The effects for PUI remained significant in a series of sensitivity analyses, such as excluding low quality studies, excluding outliers, adjusting for publication bias, or using follow-up data. Heterogeneity between studies was high and the overall quality of evidence was rated low.

MPs are probably effective in reducing PUI and might be effective in reducing screen time. Shortcomings in the quality of evidence highlight the need for high-quality controlled trials with long-term follow-ups to confirm results.

This article describes an investment case methodology for tobacco control that was applied in 36 countries between 2017 and 2022.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) investment cases compared two scenarios: a base case that calculated the tobacco-attributable mortality, morbidity and economic costs with status quo tobacco control, and an intervention scenario that described changes in those same outcomes from fully implementing and enforcing a variety of proven, evidence-based tobacco control policies and interventions. Health consequences included the tobacco-attributable share of mortality and morbidity from 38 diseases. The healthcare expenditures and the socioeconomic costs from the prevalence of those conditions were combined to calculate the total losses due to tobacco. The monetised benefits of improvements in health resulting from tobacco control implementation were compared with costs of expanding tobacco control to assess returns on investment in each country. An institutional and context analysis assessed the political and economic dimensions of tobacco control in each context.

We applied a rigorous yet flexible methodology in 36 countries over 5 years. The replicable model and framework may be used to inform development of tobacco control cases in countries worldwide.

Investment cases constitute a tool that development partners and advocates have demanded in even greater numbers. The economic argument for tobacco control provided by this set of country-contextualised analyses can be a strong tool for policy change.