title: Screening of binge drinking among patients on an emergency surgical ward.
abstract: In a sample of 149 emergency surgical patients, binge drinking was assessed through interviews. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for three questionnaires-the Malmö modification of brief MAST (Mm-MAST), CAGE, and the Trauma Scale-and two biological markers-carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). Binge drinking was reported by 42% of male patients, aged 16-29 years; 66% of female patients, aged 16-29 years; 27% of male patients, aged 30-73 years; and 16% of female patients, aged 30-73 years. All alcohol biomarkers had low sensitivity to binge drinking among women. Mm-MAST alone and CAGE and CDT combined were sensitive to identifying binge drinking among men aged 30-73 years. The three questionnaires combined had a sensitivity of 0.82 to binge drinking among men aged 16-29 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Clinical Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research, Magnus Huss, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden. lars.forsberg@spo.sll.se
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Forsberg
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Halldin
authors.forename: Sören
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekman
authors.forename: Sten
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rönnberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires