Performance of the AUDIT Alcohol Consumption Questions (AUDIT-C) and AUDIT-K Question 3 Alone in Screening for Problem Drinking

Abstract

In the busy primary care setting, there are several limitations in applying Alcohol Use Disorders Identifi cation Test in Korea (AUDIT-K) to screen problem drinking. Thus, for primary healthcare practice, we evaluated AUDIT-C, which covers questions from 1 to 3 in AUDIT-K, and AUDIT-K Question 3 Alone to present cut points for these two screening questionnaire according to AUDIT-K test scores. Methods: In a university hospital, we surveyed 302 males with a drinking history via self-administered questionnaire including AUDIT-K, from November 2007 to April 2008. On the basis of total score in AUDIT-K, we divided them into four groups: normal, problem drinking, alcohol use disorder, and alcohol dependence. For each alcohol drinking behavior pattern, we drew the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves to present cut points for appropriate sensitivity and specifi city. In addition, we compared the performance of AUDIT-C and AUDIT-K Question 3 Alone through area under the curve (AUC). Results: For AUDIT-C, we designated the score 8 or more as problem drinking, 9 or more as alcohol use disorder, and 11