Feedback from recently returned veterans on an anonymous web-based brief alcohol intervention

Outpatient veterans of OEF/OIF who drank ≥3？days in the past week were recruited from a US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Deployment Health Clinic waiting room. Veterans privately pretested the anonymous e-SBI then completed individual semistructured audio-recorded interviews. Their responses were analyzed using template analysis to explore domains identified a priori as well as emergent domains.During interviews, all nine OEF/OIF veterans (1 woman and 8 men) indicated they had received feedback for risky alcohol consumption. Participants generally liked the standard-drinks image, alcohol-related caloric and monetary feedback, and the website’s brevity and anonymity (a priori domains). They also experienced challenges with portions of the e-SBI assessment and viewed feedback regarding alcohol risk and normative drinking as problematic, but described potential benefits derived from the e-SBI (emergent domains). The most appealing e-SBIs would ensure anonymity and provide personalized transparent feedback about alcohol-related risk, consideration of the context for drinking, strategies to reduce drinking, and additional resources for veterans with more severe alcohol misuse.Results of this qualitative exploratory study suggest e-SBI may be an acceptable strategy for increasing OEF/OIF veteran access to evidenced-based alcohol SBI.Individuals deployed for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), a group now numbering more than 2.2 million [1], are at high risk for alcohol misuse [2], and those with combat exposure are especially at risk for new onset of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related problems [2-4]. The prevalence of alcohol misuse among OEF/OIF veterans (22–40%) is highest among veterans treated in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) [5-7]. Yet, OEF/OIF veterans are cautious about seeking care for substance use and mental-health concerns [2,8,9].Evidence-based alcohol screening and brief alcohol