A Mobile Application and Cloud Platform Supporting Research into Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

As the most widely used recreational drug in Australia, alcohol is often misused or over consumed by young people. Binge drinking, drink driving and unsafe sex after drinking have been identified as major health risks affecting young people. This paper reports on a platform applying mobile technology to help doctors and researchers collect data among young people and inform individuals about their alcohol consumption patterns. This app is available in both the iOS and the Android platforms. The app itself collects information on self-reported alcohol consumption patterns and records it for analysis on a Cloud-based data platform. The app tracks individual alcohol consumption longitudinally with a range of server side analysis components. The range of information collected through the app will improve not only the process of data collection and enhance the accuracy of the collected data for alcohol researchers, but also reduce the workload of doctors and researchers in monitoring and analysis of alcohol consumption patterns and their impact on young people and society more generally.