title: Use of AUDIT-C as a tool to identify hazardous alcohol consumption in admitted trauma patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol use is an important contributor to injuries. Simple bedside tools to identify trauma patients with potentially harmful drinking may assist in brief intervention efforts in clinical practice. The objective of the study was to determine and compare the accuracy of alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) and an abbreviated version of this test, in the detection of hazardous drinking.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of admitted trauma patients at a single Australian major trauma centre. Eligible patients completed the AUDIT. AUDIT survey responses were scored in two ways, using the full form scale and secondly an abbreviated (AUDIT C) scale which uses only the first 3 questions. AUDIT and AUDIT-C scores were then evaluated with respect to the primary study measure; the detection of hazardous alcohol consumption based on a full alcohol consumption history. Sensitivities for each relevant score were calculated and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine test accuracy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the study period, 523 trauma admissions were identified and of these 146 (28%) were screened. The optimum cut off scores for AUDIT and AUDIT-C were 8 and 5 respectively corresponding to sensitivities of 88% and 91% and both tests had excellent overall accuracy for the detection of hazardous alcohol consumption. There was no significant difference between AUDIT-C and AUDIT performance (p=0.395) (AUDIT-C AUROC 0.96 95%CI 0.93, 0.99).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AUDIT-C appears to be a potentially useful screening tool for use trauma centres, but that further research with larger samples is required.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: jvit3927@uni.sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vitesnikova
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Australia; Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: dinh.mm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dinh
authors.affiliation: Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: elizabeth.leonard@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leonard
authors.affiliation: The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: soufiane@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Soufiane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boufous
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Australia; Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. Electronic address: kate.conigrave@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Conigrave
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Alcohol; Receiver operator characteristic; Screening; Trauma