Fast alcohol consumption evaluation: a screening instrument adapted for French general practitioners.
BACKGROUND
To meet the needs of French general practitioners (GPs), we created a short (5 questions) interview/screening test for alcohol-related problems that is similar to AUDIT in terms of (1) test values and (2) identification of 3 groups: (a) abstainers and low-risk drinkers; (b) heavy drinkers; and (c) alcohol abusers or showing dependence.


METHODS
Nine questions (from AUDIT, CAGE, TWEAK, Five-shot Questionnaire) were given systematically to their patients (aged 18 or more) by 41 volunteer GPs. Before the consultation, patients confidentially completed the AUDIT questionnaire in the waiting room. After the consultation, an addiction specialist evaluated each patient's alcohol consumption and DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence and these were used as gold standards.


RESULTS
The analysis included 564 patient records and used stepwise logistic regression to select 7 questions, from which a second selection resulted in a 5-item questionnaire. These questions are: AUDIT questions 1 (Frequency) and 2 (Usual quantity), CAGE questions 2 (Annoyed) and 4 (Eye-opener), and TWEAK question 5 (Black-out), with each question scored 0 to 4. High levels of sensitivity and specificity were obtained for each diagnosis (sensitivity 75%-87.8%; specificity 74%-95.8%).


CONCLUSIONS
FACE is an appropriate screening method for French general practitioners.
Dewost
Anne-Violaine
AV
Boire moins c'est mieux, Association nationale de prévention de l'alcoolisme, 3 avenue du Général Gallieni, F-92000 Nanterre, France. bmcm@anpa.asso.fr
Michaud
Philippe
P
Arfaoui
Sonia
S
Gache
Pascal
P
Lancrenon
Sylvie
S
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D000647:Amnesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013695:Temperance