Validation of the AUDIT and AUDIT-C for Hazardous Drinking in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Background: One of the best-known tools in screening for hazardous drinking is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and its abbreviated form, the AUDIT-C. The aim of the present study is to determine the cut-offs of both instruments in identifying hazardous drinking in older adults. Method: A sample of 1577 older adults completed a questionnaire regarding alcohol behavior. Hazardous drinking was defined as drinking >10 units/week. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves of AUDIT and AUDIT-C were calculated and cut-off scores were derived. Results: Respectively 27.3% and 12.3% of older men and women drank >10 units/week. For the AUDIT the best trade-off between sensitivity and specificity was using a cut-off of ≥5 for men and ≥4 for women, which yielded in men sensitivity and specificity values respectively of 80.7% and 81.3% and in women 100% and 71.7%, respectively. We found the AUDIT-C to perform well with an optimal cut-off of ≥5 for men and ≥4 for women, which generated in men sensitivity and specificity values respectively of 76.5% and 85.3% and in women 100% and 74.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The AUDIT-C is accurate and sufficient in screening for hazardous drinking in community-dwelling older adults if the cut-offs are tailored by gender.

Alcohol use, sleep, and depression among family caregivers in the time of COVID-19

“…Participants may not have been accurate in their reporting for a number of reasons, including demand characteristics, recall bias, or lack of motivation to complete the survey correctly ( Dawson, 2003 ; Lauderdale, Knutson, Yan, Lui, & Rathouz, 2008 ). Although all measures used display strong validity and clinical significance, they reflect perceptions of alcohol use, sleep, and mood, and may not accurately reflect real-word health behaviors ( Bradley et al, 2007 ; Van Gils et al, 2021 ; Mollayeva et al, 2016 ; Fabbri et al, 2021 ; Van Dam & Earlywine, 2011 ). This study is also limited in its measure of alcohol use, as the AUDIT-C briefly measures alcohol consumption and this study did not include other measures of alcohol use, like consequences of drinking, craving, or health risks.…”

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency on Alcohol Use: A Focus on a Cohort of Sicilian Workers

“…A score of 4 or more for men and 3 for women is predictive of potential alcohol abuse. A person's likelihood of developing an alcohol use disorder is directly proportional to a higher test score [48].…”

Orthopaedic Nurse Navigators and Total Joint Arthroplasty Preoperative Optimization

“…The majority of nurse navigators discussed alcohol use with patients in some form, although few imposed strict cutoffs regarding alcohol use prior to TJA. We recommend instituting a standardized and validating screening tool such as the AUDIT-C to identify patients at risk for hazardous drinking during the first contact between the nurse navigator and the patient (Babor et al, 2001; van Gils et al, 2021). Healthcare institutions may choose to implement different interventions for patients with a positive screen or institute a lower threshold for intervention than what is classically used, but utilizing a standard tool will advance the ability of preoperative optimization programs to define a threshold for intervention and later establish a standard of care as more institutions collect and compare data.…”

“…Forty-four percent of nurse navigators personally collected an alcohol use history from patients. They did so by utilizing custom interview questions, questions from standardized screening tools such as the Alcohol Use Disorders tabLe 3. iNterveNtioNs for smokiNg rePorted by Nurse Navigators Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C; Babor et al, 2001;Saunders et al, 1993;van Gils et al, 2021), or by referring to notes in the patients' chart to gain an understanding of their alcohol use history. The nurse navigators we spoke with generally did not focus on a distinction between alcohol use and AUD, nor did they specifically attempt to diagnose and treat AUD.…”