Screening for high-risk and elevated alcohol consumption in day and shift workers by use of the AUDIT and CDT.
BACKGROUND
Alcohol consumption levels and drinking patterns have been reported to vary between day and shift workers, although the results have been conflicting. Previous results indicate that questions about alcohol habits may be asked in the workplace. However, no studies have evaluated the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) or the alcohol biomarker carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in serum for this purpose.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate, in conjunction with routine health examinations, whether there is any difference between permanent day and shift workers in high-risk alcohol consumption, according to the AUDIT and CDT. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) in serum was included mainly as a comparison test.


METHODS
The employees who attended for a regular health examination during the study period were offered voluntary alcohol screening with the AUDIT and CDT.


RESULTS
Altogether, 990 employees (day, two-shift, and three-shift workers) participated in the study, 194 (20%) of whom screened positive with the AUDIT and/or CDT. There were no significant differences in the screening results between day and shift workers, whereas significantly fewer of the two-shift workers (odds ratio=0.5, 95% confidence interval=0.3-0.9) screened positive with CDT.


CONCLUSIONS
The present findings on employees who attended for regular health examinations suggest that shift workers did not show a higher level of risky alcohol consumption than day workers, according to the results with the AUDIT, CDT and GGT. On the contrary, the two-shift workers appeared to drink significantly less.
Hermansson
Ulric
U
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Center for Dependency Disorders, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. ulric@bahnhof.se
Knutsson
Anders
A
Brandt
Lena
L
Huss
Anders
A
Rönnberg
Sten
S
Helander
Anders
A
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance / Q000523:psychology*