Concurrent validity of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT).
OBJECTIVE
To determine cut-offs for the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) 10-item questionnaire, differentiating hazardous drinking (HZD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD) from low risk drinking (LRD), and AUD from HZD and LRD among married men in a Sri Lankan sample.


METHODS
Using 62 low risk drinkers and 88 each from hazardous drinkers and AUD, the AUDIT instrument was compared with adapted and translated versions of a beverage-specific, quantity-frequency questionnaire, and the alcohol use module of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), and two receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted.


RESULTS
The area under the ROC curves to differentiate HZD + AUD from LRD and AUD from HZD + LRD were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94-0.99) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95-0.99) respectively. The cut-off values of 7 and 16 were observed to have the best trade-offs between sensitivity, specificity, the ratio of positive likelihood to negative likelihood ratios, and positive predictive values.


CONCLUSIONS
The AUDIT could be used to screen for LRD, HZD, and AUD among Sinhalese married men in Sri Lanka.
De Silva
Prasantha
P
Management Development and Planning Unit, Ministry Of Health Care and Nutrition, Sri Lanka. prasantha.silva@gmail.com
Jayawardana
Pushpa
P
Pathmeswaran
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity