Effectiveness of Digital Brief Interventions in Reducing Alcohol Use Among Women: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: Alcohol consumption among women is rising globally, yet it remains underestimated and under-screened in healthcare. Women face greater health risks from alcohol use compared to men, even at lower levels of consumption. Digital Brief Interventions have emerged as a scalable strategy to reduce harmful drinking. Previous reviews often focus on pregnant women or feasibility studies. There is a need to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of e-BI among women more broadly. OBJECTIVE Objective: to analyze the effectiveness of digital Brief Intervention in reducing alcohol use among women with harmful alcohol patterns. METHODS Methods: systematic review, which included experimental and quasi-experimental studies that evaluated the effectiveness of digital Brief Intervention for women of all ages, through information and communication technologies, published between 2003 and 2024. For the comparison group, any intervention other than that of interest or no intervention was considered. The databases searched included the Virtual Health Library (BVS Portal), Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (Cinahl), PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Scopus. RESULTS Results: the sample consisted of eight studies, of which 62.5% involved pregnant or postpartum women. The most commonly used information and communication technologies for implementing digital Brief Intervention were tablets, computers, and smartphones. The control groups received different interventions, such as a questionnaire on personal tests in music and video clips, information on child nutrition, and counseling. Most of the studies were conducted in developed countries. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion: this review indicated that digital Brief Intervention was effective in reducing alcohol consumption among women. The scarcity of studies on the subject in low-income countries is noteworthy, as it points to a gap in knowledge and the need for research to be conducted outside high-income cultures. CLINICALTRIAL Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024602967.