@Article{info:doi/10.2196/cancer.6295, author="Fazzino, Tera L and Fleming, Kimberly and Befort, Christie", title="Alcohol Intake Among Breast Cancer Survivors: Change in Alcohol Use During a Weight Management Intervention", journal="JMIR Cancer", year="2016", month="Nov", day="09", volume="2", number="2", pages="e15", keywords="alcohol drinking; breast cancer; weight loss; weight reduction programs; obesity", abstract="Background: Daily alcohol intake in quantities as small as half a drink/day significantly increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence for postmenopausal survivors. Interventions designed to modify alcohol use among survivors have not been studied; however, lifestyle interventions that target change in dietary intake may affect alcohol intake. Objective: To evaluate change in alcohol use during a weight loss intervention for obese, rural-dwelling breast cancer survivors. Methods: Data were derived from an 18-month trial that included a 6-month weight loss intervention delivered via group conference calls, followed by a 12-month randomized weight loss maintenance phase in which participants received continued group calls or mailed newsletters. Participants who reported regular alcohol use at baseline (N=37) were included in this study. Results: Mean daily alcohol intake significantly decreased from baseline to 6 months during the weight loss intervention (19.6-2.3 g; P=.001). Mean alcohol intake did not significantly increase (b=0.99, P=.12) during the weight loss maintenance phase (months 6-18) and did not depend on randomization group (b=0.32, P=.799). Conclusions: Findings provide preliminary evidence that a weight loss intervention may address obesity and alcohol use risk factors for cancer recurrence. Minimal mail-based contact post weight loss can maintain alcohol use reductions through 18 months, suggesting durability in these effects. These results highlight a possibility that lifestyle interventions for survivors may modify health behaviors that are not the main foci of an intervention but that coincide with intervention goals. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01441011; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01441011 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6lsJ9dMa9) ", issn="2369-1999", doi="10.2196/cancer.6295", url="http://cancer.jmir.org/2016/2/e15/", url="https://doi.org/10.2196/cancer.6295", url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28410181" }