This screen grab provided by the Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies (CHESS) at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., shows the A-CHESS app. The app, developed for recovering alcoholics, includes a panic button and sounds an alert when they get too close to taverns. The app is being commercially developed and is not yet available. (AP Photo/Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies)
March 26, 2014 - 1:11 PM
CHICAGO - A smartphone app for recovering alcoholics that includes a panic button and sounds an alert when they get too close to taverns helped keep some on the wagon.
That's according to University of Wisconsin researchers who developed the tool.
Adults released from in-patient alcoholism treatment centres who got free sober smartphones reported fewer drinking days and more overall abstinence than those who got the usual follow-up support.
A host of smartphone apps are available that feature a variety of options for trying to prevent alcoholics and drug addicts from relapsing.
The study results are based on patients' self-reporting, which is a potential limitation. But addiction experts say the immediacy of smartphone-based apps could make them a useful tool.
The study was published online Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014