Costs of a Brief Alcohol Consumption Reduction Intervention for Persons Living with HIV in Southwestern Uganda

Comparisons of Live Versus Automated Cell Phone-Based Booster Components

Bibliographic Data

ID15334227
AuthorsJudith A Hahn (0000-0002-2697-8264, University of California, San Francisco, corresponding author), Sebastian Kevany (0000-0001-5440-6637, United Nations University), Nneka Emenyonu (0000-0003-4376-7810, University of California, San Francisco), Naomi Sanyu (Mbarara University of Science and Technology), Anita Katusiime (Mbarara University of Science and Technology), Winnie Muyindike (0000-0002-6694-2645, Mbarara University of Science and Technology), Winnie R Muyindike, Robin Fatch (0000-0002-8423-3471, University of California, San Francisco), Starley B Shade (0000-0001-8172-4649, University of California, San Francisco)
Year2023
Volume27
Issue9
Pages2865-2874
Publication date2023-02-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAIDS and Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1090-7165 • E-ISSN: 1573-3254
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10461-023-04010-6
PMID36807244
OpenAlexW4321478469
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited22

Low-cost interventions are needed to reduce alcohol use among persons with HIV (PWH) in low-income settings. Brief alcohol interventions hold promise, and technology may efficiently deliver brief intervention components with high frequency. We conducted a costing study of the components of a randomized trial that compared a counselling-based intervention with two in-person one-on-one sessions supplemented by booster sessions to reinforce the intervention among PWH with unhealthy alcohol use in southwest Uganda. Booster sessions were delivered twice weekly by two-way short message service (SMS) or Interactive Voice Response (IVR), i.e. via technology, or approximately monthly via live calls from counsellors. We found no significant intervention effects compared to the control, however the cost of the types of booster sessions differed. Start up and recurring costs for the technology-delivered booster sessions were 2.5 to 3 times the cost per participant of the live-call delivered booster intervention for 1000 participants. These results suggest technology-based interventions for PWH are unlikely to be lower cost than person-delivered interventions unless they are at very large scale

Binge drinking · Booster (rocketry · Environmental health · Health psychology · Intervention (counseling · Phone · Poison control · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Public health · Suicide prevention · Engineering · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · ICT in Developing Communities · Medicine · Mobile Health and mHealth Applications · Nursing · Gerontology