Reported alcohol consumption and the serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin test in third-year medical students.
The serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) test was performed on 143 third-year medical students along with questionnaires for the self-reporting of alcohol consumption during the last 2 weeks, the last 6 months, and questions on any alcohol-related untoward events. We found that the CDT test has poor sensitivity for detecting binge drinking in our population of students, despite some likely under-reporting of drinking. Self-reporting of drinking is commonly unreliable, and we found no significant correlation between the CDT concentrations in serum and the magnitude of self-reported alcohol use during 2-week and 6-month periods. Hangover was by far the commonest self-reported untoward event, and there was a highly significant relationship (P < 0.001) between drinking and untoward events. From a small population of non-drinkers, we estimated the reference ranges for CDT to be <27 U/l for men and <35 U/l for women.
Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus 43210, USA.
J A
JA
Lott
L W
LW
Curtis
A
A
Thompson
G A
GA
Gechlik
D A
DA
Rund
D000059:Accidents; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers; D019963:Clinical Chemistry Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011786:Quality Control; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014168:Transferrin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis
D015415:Biomarkers; D014168:Transferrin