Severity of alcohol problems at follow-up--an outcome measure.
An ordinal scale to measure severity of alcohol problems in a follow-up study was constructed. The measure refers to the preceding 6 months and is based on reports of amount of alcohol consumed, drinking pattern, signs of alcohol dependence and time sober. The measure was tested on 300 patients reinvestigated about 2 1/2 years after discharge for inpatient treatment for alcoholism. Thirteen percent of the patients had no alcohol problems and 22% had severe alcohol problems. Rather more than one quarter of the group (27%) were classified as positive intermediates and 38% as negative intermediates. These results were compared with other data and information obtained from official records. It was concluded that the measure had satisfactory validity.
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests