Prevalence of alcohol problems in general practice: an experience from southern Italy.
The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) and the response to a question about heavy alcohol consumption were used to assess the prevalence of alcohol problems in consecutive patients (77 males and 46 females) consulting a general practitioner in an urban area in the South of Italy (Castellammare di Stabia). Alcohol problems, which were defined by a cut-off score of 5 on the MAST and/or by heavy alcohol consumption (corresponding to at least 60 g of ethanol daily for males and 36 g of ethanol daily for females for at least 2 years), were identified in 54 patients [43.9%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 35.0-53.1%], 45 males (58.4%; 95% CI 46.6-69.6%) and nine females (19.6%; 95% CI 9.4-33.9%). The prevalence of MAST positive patients was 32.5% (95% CI 24.4-41.6%) in the total patient sample, 45.5% (95% CI 34.1-57.2%) among males and 10.9% (95% CI 3.6-23.6%) among females. The question about heavy alcohol consumption had a predictive negative value of 97.2% (95% CI 90.2-99.7%) and a predictive positive value of 73.1% (95% CI 59.0-84.4%) in relation to MAST positive patients. It is suggested that general practitioners should incorporate this question about heavy alcohol consumption as a screening question in order to detect alcohol problems and give advice regarding reduction of alcohol consumption.
Rambaldi
A
A
Medical Clinic, Second University of Naples, Italy.
Todisco
N
N
Gluud
C
C
Ambrosone
L
L
Rambaldi
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*