title: The utility of a gender-specific definition of binge drinking on the AUDIT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although binge drinking is commonly defined as the consumption of at least 5 drinks in 1 sitting for men and 4 for women, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) defines binge drinking as the consumption of 6 or more drinks in 1 sitting for both men and women. This study examined the effect of using gender-specific binge drinking definitions on overall AUDIT scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 331 college men and 1224 college women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed a self-report questionnaire, which included the AUDIT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings showed that defining binge drinking as 4 or more drinks for women, rather than 6 or more, does impact their AUDIT scores and could affect the percentage of women classified as hazardous users. Among men, AUDIT scores were unaffected by the use of a gender-specific definition of binge drinking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that the AUDIT might be underidentifying hazardous users among college women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. janine.olthuis@dal.ca
authors.forename: Janine V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Olthuis
authors.forename: Byron L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Zamboanga
authors.forename: Lindsay S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Ham
authors.forename: Kathryne
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Tyne
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D015438:Health Behavior; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult