Validation and Comparison of Alcohol-Screening Instruments for Identifying Hazardous Drinking in Hospitalized Patients in Taiwan
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on May 8, 2008

The aim of this study was to validate the Mandarin Chinese version of different screening instruments and compare their performances for identifying hazardous drinkers in Taiwan.

Of 404 patients evaluated, 100 were identified as having a hazardous drinking pattern. All screening instruments showed acceptable sensitivities (ranging from 85 to 93%) and specificities (ranging from 72 to 92%), but AUDIT and its short forms performed consistently better than the other instruments.

The Mandarin Chinese versions of AUDIT and its derivatives perform well in screening hospitalized Taiwanese patients for hazardous drinking.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: liuyip@ms23.hinet.net , shui624@yahoo.com.tw

_______________________________________________________________