EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ALCOHOL-USE DISORDERS IDENTIFICATION TEST IN OCCUPATIONAL-HEALTH SCREENINGS

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) among occupational health screenings. AUDIT was available from 32 male and 93 female employees, mainly of academic organizations; 22 alcoholic men reporting to treatment at a detoxification clinic served as a reference group. Two other structured questionnaires, the Malmo modified Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (Mm-MAST) and the CAGE, were compared with the AUDIT, and comparisons were also made to the self-reported weekly alcohol consumption. The total score on the AUDIT correlated equally with the self-reported alcohol consumption, especially when the alcoholics were excluded (r = 0.73, p < 0.001) as the Mm-MAST (r = 0.58, p < 0.001) and CAGE (r = 0.33, p = 0.005). All three questionnaires were good at detecting male alcoholics: using the cut-off point of at least 8 positive answers on the AUDIT, 3 on the Mm-MAST, and 3 on the CAGE. The sensitivities were 100%, 100%, and 91%, respectively. In the AUDIT, however, there was a clearer difference related to the cut-off level than with the Mm-MAST and CAGE. With the cut-off of 8 points, 31% of the male and 11% of the female employees were classified as suspect heavy drinkers. The AUDIT was significantly more often accurate than the two other questionnaires, especially among female employees in detecting suspect early-phase heavy drinkers and thus seems to be suitable for health screenings.