Validation of the alcohol use disorders identification test and the drug abuse screening test in first episode psychosis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the validity and reliability of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) for detecting alcohol and drug use disorders, respectively, in a population with first-episode psychosis (FEP).


METHODS
Subjects with FEP completed the AUDIT and DAST and were divided into groups according to the presence or absence of a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) diagnosis of either current alcohol or drug misuse. The data were analyzed to see whether AUDIT and DAST scores were predictive of SCID diagnosis.


RESULTS
Patients with alcohol-related SCID diagnoses and those with drug-related SCID diagnoses scored significantly higher on the AUDIT and DAST, respectively, than the group without the respective SCID diagnosis (P < 0.001 in both cases). The AUDIT functioned best with a problem drinking cut-off score of 10 (sensitivity, 85%; specificity, 91%). The DAST functioned best with a problem drug use cut-off score of 3 (sensitivity, 85%; specificity, 73%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.86 for the AUDIT and 0.83 for the DAST.


CONCLUSIONS
The DAST and AUDIT may reliably identify FEP patients with substance abuse.
Cassidy
Clifford M
CM
McGill University, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec.
Schmitz
Norbert
N
Malla
Ashok
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016730:Program Development; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology