title: Positive CAGE screen correlates with cirrhosis in veterans with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: The current study examines the relationship between problem alcohol use and severity of liver disease by self-administered questionnaires using both the CAGE questionnaire and beverage-specific quantity-frequency questions. The cohort consisted of 38 patients with cirrhosis (10 with decompensated liver disease) and 62 with mild fibrosis (stage 0-1), of comparable mean age and estimated duration of infection. Although mean alcohol consumption was similar in both groups, a positive CAGE screen (defined as two or more affirmative answers) was significantly more common among cirrhotics (OR = 5.24; 95% CI, 1.78-15.39) and tended to be associated with decompensated liver disease (OR = 13.3; 95% CI, 0.67-256) among cirrhotics. In multivariate analysis, only inflammatory grade on liver biopsy (OR = 67.7; 95% CI, 10.6-431) and positive CAGE score (OR = 8.09; 95% CI, 1.15-57.1) were independent predictors of cirrhosis. These findings suggest that the CAGE questionnaire predicts advanced liver disease better than daily or lifetime drinking measures.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.forename: Ramsey
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheung
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D001706:Biopsy; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral