Who comes to voluntary, community-based alcohol screening? Results of the first annual National Alcohol Screening Day, 1999.
OBJECTIVE
The feasibility of the 1999 voluntary, community-based National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) was assessed by determining 1) the extent to which community and college sites were registered to hold screenings and the extent to which the subjects came to participate, 2) the demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants at these screening sites, and 3) the extent to which individuals who were referred for evaluation and treatment adhered to follow-up recommendations.


METHODS
Registered community and college sites were documented. Screening forms returned by the participants were analyzed. A subgroup of randomly selected participants from community and college sites was contacted by telephone.


RESULTS
A total of 1,218 community sites and 367 [corrected] college sites participated in NASD. At the 1,089 sites that reported results, 32,876 people participated, 18,043 were screened, and 5,959 were referred for treatment. Forty-three percent of those screened at these sites had a score of 8 or more on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), indicating harmful or hazardous drinking. Only 13% of those screened had previous alcohol treatment. In the subgroup that participated in the follow-up survey (N=704), community participants (N=337) had higher mean scores on the AUDIT than the college participants (N=337). Approximately 50% of the community participants and 20% of the college participants adhered to the recommendation to pursue follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Voluntary, community-based screening for alcohol problems is feasible and offers education, screening, and referral for many individuals with harmful or hazardous drinking behavior.
Greenfield
Shelly F
SF
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. shelly_greenfield@hms.harvard.edu
Keliher
Anne
A
Sugarman
Dawn
D
Kozloff
Rene
R
Reizes
Joelle Meszler
JM
Kopans
Barbara
B
Jacobs
Douglas
D
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010555:Personality Inventory; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D035141:Voluntary Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*