Alcohol and cognitive function: assessment in everyday life and laboratory settings using mobile phones.

Background: Mobile phone (cellphone) technology makes it practicable to assess cognitive function in a natural setting. We assessed this method and compared impairment of performance due to alcohol in everyday life with measurements made in the laboratory.

Methods: Thirty-eight volunteers (20 male, aged 18-54 years) took part in the everyday study, completing assessments twice a day for 14 days following requests sent by text messages to the mobile phone.