Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a personalized alcohol intervention integrating liver biomarkers and behavioral feedback

Abstract

Aims: Limiting alcohol intake or not drinking at all reduces risk for multiple chronic diseases, including alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). This research evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary behavioral outcomes of a brief motivational interviewing (MI) intervention enhanced with personalized feedback and objective liver-health biomarkers. The intervention targeted active alcohol use disorder (AUD), including a patient subgroup diagnosed with ALD.

Setting/Design and Participants: This preliminary clinical trial enrolled 33 participants with AUD and recent heavy alcohol consumption (seven or more drinks per week for women; fourteen or more drinks per week for men). The sample was 48.5% women and 30.3% Hispanic. The primary AUD cohort (n = 28) was recruited via digital and community outreach, while the subgroup with ALD (n = 5) was recruited primarily from a hepatology clinic. Follow-up was conducted three months after the baseline intervention.

Measures and Findings: The motivational interviewing (MI) intervention integrated personalized reports combining liver-function blood tests, drinking summaries, and data from a custom smartphone application. From screening to three-month follow-up, average drinks per week decreased by 57%, and heavy drinking days decreased by 55%. Enrollment for the ALD subgroup was limited by stringent drinking inclusion criteria, primary reliance on a single hepatology clinic recruitment site, and a funding transition. Follow-up retention, however, was high across both groups (93% AUD-only; 100% ALD subgroup), demonstrating strong intervention acceptability among enrolled participants.

Conclusions: Enhancing brief MI with personalized biobehavioral data proved an acceptable and promising approach to reduce alcohol consumption over three months. While enrollment highlighted the need for expanded recruitment settings and eligibility criteria in ALD populations, these preliminary findings warrant larger trials to test long-term intervention scalability and sustainability across clinical and community settings.