PATROL Pilot Study: Findings and Future Plans

Presentation #4 for Session "Development and Effectiveness of A Web-Based Alcohol Intervention in the Military" Abstract #162331 Moderator: Michael Pemberton (pemberton@rti.org, 504-947-8150)

The Program for Alcohol Training, Research, and Online Learning (PATROL) is being evaluated in a pilot test at eight military installations, with two in each branch of the military. At the participating installations, volunteer participants registered with the study Website, completed a baseline assessment of alcohol use and associated problems, and were then assigned to one of four conditions: (1) Alcohol Savvy (AS), (2) Drinker's Check-Up (DCU), (3) the “risk level” condition, where high risk drinkers were assigned to the DCU and low risk drinkers were assigned to the AS, or (4) control. Participants then completed a follow-up survey 1 month after the baseline. Across the installations, 3,912 participants completed the baseline survey, and 1,371 completed the 1 month follow-up survey. Results indicated that participants who completed one of the programs showed significant reductions on multiple measures of alcohol use compared with control participants. Initial analyses suggested no significant difference in the relative effectiveness of the three program conditions. A 6-month follow-up survey will be completed in Spring 2007. This speaker will describe the research design, the study sample, and the longitudinal finding from the pilot survey, as well as implications, limitations, and future plans for the project.