A study of the reliability and validity of the korean version of the penn alcohol craving scale for alcohol-dependent patients.
OBJECTIVE
The Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) is a stronger predictor of subsequent drinking and relapse of alcohol dependence that can be administered more quickly and easily than other craving scales. The goal of this study was to develop the Korean version of the Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS-K).


METHODS
To examine the psychometric properties of the PACS-K, responses were chosen from 80 patients admitted to a treatment facility for alcohol dependence.


RESULTS
The PACS-K possesses good psychometric properties, as assessed by Cronbach's alpha estimates (Cronbach's alpha=0.91). The test-retest reliability of the PACS-K showed high correlation (p<0.01) when the retest interval was 1 day. When the validity of the PACS-K was investigated using correlation analysis with two other craving scales (the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS) and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), high correlations were obtained between total PACS scores and total OCDS scores, and between total PACS scores and VAS scores (p<0.01, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The PACS-K is a reliable and valid measure of alcohol cravings, and it could be useful for predicting which individuals are at risk for subsequent relapse.
Kim
Min Jeong
MJ
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea.
Kim
Sung Gon
SG
Kim
Hyo Jeong
HJ
Kim
Ho Chan
HC
Park
Ji Heh
JH
Park
Kwang Seok
KS
Lee
Duk Ki
DK
Byun
Won Tan
WT
Kim
Cheol Min
CM