Results of a cluster randomised controlled trial to reduce risky use of alcohol, alcohol-related HIV risks and improve help-seeking behaviour among safety and security employees in the Western Cape, South Africa
Date
2015-05
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Objective: To test the effectiveness of a programme aimed at reducing the risky use of alcohol and alcohol-related
HIV risk and increase help-seeking behaviour among a sample of municipal employees in the Western Cape
Province, South Africa.
Methods: A clustered randomised controlled trial was conducted in 2011–2012 among 325 employees. The eight
hour intervention, Team Awareness (TA), addressing behavioural risk among employees was administered to 168
employees in the intervention arm and the 157 employees in the control arm who received a one-hour wellness talk.
Results: The results show that TA had the greatest impact on risky drinking practices and hangover effects. There was
a significant group × time interaction (F (1, 117) = 25.16, p < 0.0001) with participants in the intervention condition
reducing number of days on which they engaged in binge drinking. There was also a significant time effect with
participants in the intervention condition reducing the likelihood of going to work with a hangover (F (1,117) = 4.10,
p = 0.045). No reduction in HIV-related risk behaviours were found.
Conclusions: This intervention study was able to demonstrate a modest but significant reduction in risky drinking
practices and hangover effects. This provides encouraging evidence for the effectiveness of interventions that address
risky use of alcohol among employed persons, further providing a launch pad for strengthening and replicating future
RCT studies on workplace prevention, especially in developing country settings.
Description
CITATION: Burnhams, N. H. et al. 2015. Results of a cluster randomised controlled trial to reduce risky use of alcohol, alcohol-related HIV risks and improve help-seeking behaviour among safety and security employees in the Western Cape, South Africa. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 10:18, doi:10.1186/s13011-015-0014-5.
The original publication is available at http://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com
The original publication is available at http://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com
Keywords
Drinking of alcoholic beverages -- Employees, HIV infections -- Risk factors, Security guards -- South Africa -- Western Cape
Citation
Burnhams, N. H. et al. 2015. Results of a cluster randomised controlled trial to reduce risky use of alcohol, alcohol-related HIV risks and improve help-seeking behaviour among safety and security employees in the Western Cape, South Africa. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 10:18, doi:10.1186/s13011-015-0014-5.