Gustafson, D.H., McTavish, F.M., Chic, M.Y., Atwood, A.K., Johnson, R.A., Boyle, M.G., Levy, M.S., Driscoll, H., Chisolm, S.M., Dillenburg, L., Isham, A., & Shah, D. (2014). A smartphone application to support recovery from alcoholism: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry.71(5), 566-572. PMID: 24671165.
This study tested the Addiction-Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (A-CHESS) smartphone application for patients with alcohol dependence. After being released from residential alcohol treatment, patients were randomly assigned to usual continuing care, or A-CHESS plus usual care. Study participants had access to a smartphone with the A-CHESS application for 8 months after discharge from residential treatment. After one year, patients with access to the A-CHESS application had fewer days of risky drinking and were more likely to be abstinent than patients receiving usual care only. Results support the use of A-CHESS as a continuing care intervention for patients with alcohol dependence.