Virtual Bar App can help educate patients on alcohol use but with some caveats

The Virtual Bar App is an informative tool for patient and healthcare student education on the factors that impact blood alcohol content. It was developed by the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, an industry-supported nonprofit that has been around for about 25 years, supported by companies like Bacardi. Their focus is fighting drunk driving as well as underage drinking and advocating for the responsible use of alcohol.

Virtual Bar is an app and a website that aids the user in calculating blood alcohol content (BAC). The app’s tagline is ‘We’ve Got Your BAC’. Users enter basic profile information, amount and type of alcohol consumed over how much time and any food or water consumed. The app calculates approximate BAC based on this info. It also gives the user an idea what effects they might feel at specific BAC levels and how long before their BAC will return to zero.

Standard disclaimers pop up when the app first opens, reminding users that the app is not designed to measure BAC and that drinking and driving is never a good choice. This disclaimer is not likely to be enough to discourage anyone’s approach to their alcohol intake but does highlight a critical caveat to the use of the Virtual Bar app. Resources regarding the derivation of the BAC calculations and nutritional information in the app are also given in the disclaimer.

The disclaimer does highlight an important caveat to use of the Virtual Bar app. Specifically, it should only be used for general educational purposes while at the time reminding patients of potential limitations, like genetic variability in metabolism of alcohol. Importantly, patients need to know its not meant to tell them they can have five drinks if they eat a plate of pasta and then drive.

Users enter minimal profile information that includes name, gender, age, weight, and height. This is stored in the app but can be edited. The name can be a pseudonym.

The gender question is asked in standard binary format, which may be confusing for transgender patients and providers who care for them. For health apps where biologic gender and associated physiology may be particularly important, it would be useful to have more guidance for users on this question.

Weight is entered in pounds and ranges from 80lbs to 380 lbs, somewhat limiting use for significantly obese patients. Height is entered in feet and inches and ranges from 4’6″ to 8 feet tall.

Once the profile is set up, users enter drink information by choosing from a list that includes beer, wine, liquor, and mixed drinks. One downside here is that it’s not clear what numbers the app is using for alcohol content of most of these beverages.

Food and water consumed may also be added to determine potential effects on BAC. Food is not specific, but based on estimated protein, fat, carbs, and calorie content.

For me, the app calculates three beers over 90 minutes is enough to put my BAC at 0.08, the legal driving limit in the US. This is consistent with calculations from the University of Notre Dame BAC calculator website. The Cleveland Clinic website comes in at 0.061 but doesn’t use gender or height for calculations. Adding 1,000 calories of high fat food only brings that down to 0.07. The app also gives potential effects the user might be feeling at that level and the approximate time for the BAC to return to zero.

The app allows the user to add a friend and perform similar calculations. There is also a screen to reset and start the process again.