Verification of the Addiction Severity Index Japanese Version (ASI-J) as a Treatment-Customization, Prediction, and Comparison Tool for Alcohol-Dependent Individuals

Abstract

Objective:To demonstrate the usefulness of the Addiction Severity Index Japanese Version (ASI-J) in Japanese alcohol-dependent individuals. The ASI is a frequently used clinical and research instrument that measures severities in seven functional domains in people with substance abuse disorders.Methods:A total of 370 male inpatients with a history of alcohol dependence participated in the study. Forty-nine participants were excluded in the final analysis due to lack of reliability (i.e., patient misrepresentation or inability to understand). We used the ASI-J and a series of indexes that determined patient states during and post-treatment.Results:The correlations between ASI Composite Scores (CSs), which were calculated through a weighted formula and indicated the severity of each problem area, were significant but low in eight relations and not significant in 13 relations, indicating substantial independence of the problem areas. Significant differences were found in Family/Social CSs between abstinent and relapsed alcohol-dependent individuals. The questions of undesirable attitude were significantly related to the CSs of Employment, Drug use, Family/Social, and Psychiatric sections. Significant differences were observed in patient demographics, CS, and ASI Severity Rating (SR) and interviewer’s subjective scoring between alcohol-dependent individuals and drug abusers. CSs in Japanese alcohol-dependent individuals were generally similar to corresponding CSs in individuals from other countries, with the exception of The Netherlands.Conclusions:This study demonstrated that the ASI-J is useful for understanding individual profiles of problems for each patient and planning customized treatment. The ASI-J served as a predictive tool for relapse and compliance to treatment afterward and was shown to be useful as a comparison tool in clarifying similarities and differences between substance abuser groups.

Validation of Addiction Severity Index (5th Edition) Bahasa Melayu Version (ASI-5-BM)

“…The reliability of our study was found to be consistent with a good Cronbach's alpha estimates for the ASI-5-BM, in keeping with data from the US, 14 Netherlands, 9 China, 5,15 Switzerland 8 and Japan. 6 Alpha values for the medical and occupation domain are lesser than 0.7. For the medical domain (0.581), this is probably due to the reporting of how many times there were hospitalized as opposed to how many days that they were in the hospital.…”

“…9 In Japan, the internal consistency of the ASI data was also found to be good; 0.79 for medical status; 0.67 for employment status; 0.67 for alcohol use; 0.49 for drug use; 0.76 for legal status; 0.66 for family/social relationships; and 0.71 for psychiatric status. 6 Demirbas et al, 7 in testing external reliability through test-retest correlation among 31 subjects for 10 days, found correlation values of 0.85 for medical status; 0.75 for employment status; 0.84 for legal status, 0.85 for alcohol use; 0.83 for family / social relationships and 0.91 for psychiatric status. Good correlation values (0.70 -0.92) were also obtained by Luo et al 5 of between 0.70-0.92.…”

“…Since its development, the ASI 1 has been widely utilized to assess the disruption and deterioration caused by substance abuse in individuals. 1 The ASI has been translated and validated in China, 5 Japan, 6 Turkey, 7 France, 8 Netherlands 9 and other countries, justifying ASI as an efficient assessment tool. The translated instrument is used to formulate treatment and rehabilitation plans 10 at a variety of settings, such as addiction clinics, rehabilitation centers, mental health clinics and prisons, in a variety of population (people who use substances and alcohol) who volunteer for treatment and rehabilitation and substance abusers with dual diagnosis.…”

Drug Dependence Treatment Awareness among Japanese Female Stimulant Drug Offenders

“…The information for the self-perceived mental health status was gathered before stating the guidance for overcoming drug dependence using a questionnaire based on the Addiction Severity Index—5th Edition [18,19]. The interviewer asked the participants yes/no questions, including “Have you experienced any of the following emotions within past 30 days before the arrest?” The items covered included: the experience of serious depression (associated with difficulties in daily functioning, sadness, hopelessness, or loss of interest); serious anxiety or tension (unreasonably worried or the inability to feel relaxed); hallucinations; trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering; trouble controlling violent behavior, including episodes of rage or violence; serious thoughts of suicide (seriously considering a plan for taking their own life); and attempted suicide.…”

Use of Addiction Severity Index in a Nigerian Drug Abuse Treatment Unit: A Clinical Audit

“…It is used to compare individuals with drug abuse across different populations [8,9]; to assess the differential effects of specific drugs on specific areas of life of individuals with drug abuse [10]; to assess domains associated with certain drug use related risks [11]; to determine the relationship between the addiction severity of proband and parental variables [12].…”