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The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screen for at‐risk drinking in primary care patients of different racial/ethnic backgrounds
Author(s) -
VOLK ROBERT J.,
STEINBAUER JEFFREY R.,
CANTOR SCOTT B.,
HOLZER CHARLES E
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb03652.x
Subject(s) - alcohol use disorders identification test , ethnic group , medicine , audit , population , demography , poison control , environmental health , family medicine , injury prevention , management , sociology , anthropology , economics
This study examined the operating characteristics of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screen for “at‐risk” drinking in a multi‐ethnic sample of primary care patients, from a family practice center located in the southwestern United States. A probability sample of 1333 family medicine patients, stratified by gender and racial/ethnic background (white, African‐American and Mexican‐American) completed the AUDIT, followed by the Alcohol Use Disorders and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule (AUDADIS) to determine ICD‐10 diagnoses. Indicators of hazardous alcohol use and alcohol‐related problems were included as measures of “at‐risk” drinking. Despite differences in the spectrum of alcohol problems across patient subgroups, there was no evidence of gender or racial/ethnic bias in the AUDIT as indicated by Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve analysis. Excluding abstainers from the analysis had little impact on screening efficacy. In this patient population, the A UDIT appears to be an unbiased measure of “at‐risk” drinking.