TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Prevention of alcohol-related incidents in the U.S. Air Force: results from a cluster randomized trial JO - Military medicine A1 - Little, Melissa A. A1 - Klesges, Robert C. A1 - Mallawaarachchi, Indika A1 - McMurry, Timothy A1 - Pebley, Kinsey A1 - McDevitt-Murphy, Meghan A1 - Murphy, James A1 - Wayne Talcott, G. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: Alcohol misuse poses significant public health concerns in the U.S. Military. An Alcohol Misconduct Prevention Program (AMPP), which includes a brief alcohol intervention (BAI) session, plus random breathalyzer program, has been shown to reduce alcohol-related incidents (ARIs) among Airmen undergoing training.

PURPOSE: The current study sought to examine whether a booster BAI administered at the end of Airmen's training reduced ARIs out to a 1-year follow-up.

METHODS: Participants were 26,231 U.S. Air Force Technical Trainees recruited between March 2016 and July 2018. Participants were cluster randomized by cohort to two conditions: AMPP + BAI Booster or AMPP + Bystander Intervention. The primary analysis was a comparison of the interventions' efficacies in preventing Article 15 ARIs at a 1-year follow-up, conducted using a generalized estimating equations logistic regression model controlling for covariates.

RESULTS: There was no significant difference by condition in Article 15 ARIs at the 1-year follow-up (P = .912).

CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that a booster may not be necessary to produce maximum effects beyond the initial AMPP intervention. It is also possible that alcohol behaviors changed as a result of the intervention but were not captured by our outcome measures. Future research should consider alternative outcomes or participant-tracking measures to determine whether a different or more intensive BAI booster is effective. The majority of Article 15 ARIs were for underage drinking; therefore, developing an intervention focused on this problem behavior could lead to large reductions in training costs in the military.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0026-4075 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usab489 ID - ref1 ER -