title: Prevalence of pathological gambling in Quebec in 2002.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess gambling behaviours and the problems associated with pathological gambling among the adult population of Quebec in 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  In Phase 1 of this 2-phase study, a total sample of 8842 adults was assessed. We used the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), adapted for telephone interview, to assess one-half of the sample; the other one-half was evaluated with the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI). In the study's second phase, we compared the classifications obtained from these screening instruments with classifications obtained by a psychologist using a semistructured clinical telephone interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicate that the prevalence of pathological gambling in 2002 (at which time 0.8% of the adult population were classified as probable pathological gamblers) did not differ from the proportion obtained in 1996 (1.0%), despite the significant decrease in gambling participation in 2002 (81% vs 90% in 1996). The most popular gambling activities were buying lottery tickets (68%), participating in fundraising draws (40%), gambling in casinos (18%), playing cards with family or with friends (10%), playing bingo (9%), and playing video lotteries (8%). The findings obtained from the SOGS and the CPGI revealed that the 2 instruments perform similarly when identifying pathological gambling prevalence. However, the results of the semistructured clinical telephone interviews differed from the results obtained with the screening instruments: 82% of the gamblers initially identified as probable pathological gamblers by the SOGS or the CPGI were not confirmed by a clinical interview.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The discrepancy between the results of the screening questionnaires and the clinical evaluation is significant, and this difference needs to be addressed before further cross-sectional or longitudinal studies are conducted.
authors.affiliation: Ecole de psychologie, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec. Robert.Ladouceur@psy.ulaval.ca
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ladouceur
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chevalier
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sévigny
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011594:Psychometrics; D011792:Quebec; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012306:Risk