Project overview
Deaths from liver disease in the UK are rising at an alarming rate, with an increase of 400% since 1970. In the same period, death rates from other major killer diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, have either remained stable or decreased. This is primarily due to increasing alcohol consumption within the population. In fact, alcohol-related harm costs the NHS more than £3.5 billion each year. Urgent action is now required to deal with liver-related deaths, which can be prevented by reducing alcohol consumption in high-risk patients with liver disease. Currently, in hospitals, this is dealt with through Alcohol Care Teams reviewing patients admitted with alcohol-related liver disease. However, this level of intervention may not be enough to benefit these high-risk patients, and there are also increasing numbers of patients year-on-year so there is not enough capacity to review each patient. We have developed AlcoChange, a smartphone app with an optional breathalyser (breath alcohol meter) that allows self-monitoring of alcohol use, and the app provides motivational messages to encourage people to stay sober. AlcoChange has already been shown to have positive benefits in an initial study carried out at the Royal Free Hospital in London, but still needs to be tested in a much larger trial with a greater number of hospitals and patients. The aim of our proposed project is to carry out a clinical trial to assess if AlcoChange can help to reduce alcohol consumption in patients with liver disease. This could help us reduce the number of hospital admissions and deaths associated with alcohol-related liver disease. We will also speak to patients and care-providers to examine the actual experiences with AlcoChange – we will use this information to guide how we use AlcoChange within the NHS. The results of our clinical trial will be published, and together with a cost analysis, will support the continued business development of the AlcoChange product. At every stage, we will involve patients and the public to ensure our research is relevant, clear, acceptable and useful. One patient with a history of alcohol-related liver disease is a collaborator on this grant. If successful, we will enlist a second to join our team. Both representatives will help with the study design, developing study information, interpreting findings and drafting publications, including lay summaries. Based on the findings from our previous work, we estimate that the AlcoChange product could result in savings of £100-£200 million per year for the NHS and significantly reduce hospital admissions. As a result, the product would provide an alternative, and much needed, strategy to support patients with liver disease where reducing alcohol consumption is essential for increasing survival rates.
