title: Screening for alcoholism among alcohol users in a traditional Arab Muslim society.
abstract: The Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (S-MAST) was applied to 140 alcohol users in the traditional Muslim society of Kuwait. One hundred were confirmed alcoholics and 40 were self-disclosed social drinkers in the community. The questionnaire significantly discriminated between the groups. Its sensitivity level was 100% and its specificity 82.5%. Although all except one of the S-MAST items elicited significant differences between the groups in question, it appears that the particular sociocultural conditions of the setting may influence the validity of some of them.
authors.affiliation: Psychological Medicine Hospital, Kuwait.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: al-Ansari
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Negrete
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*; D007730:Kuwait; D008403:Mass Screening; D010556:Personality Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012931:Social Environment