Clinical validation of screening test for at-risk drinking for young and middle-aged adults in an emergency department

Background: Emergency department has been shown to be suitable for conducting screening and interventions for at-risk drinking groups. Simple screening test is needed for crowded environments such as the emergency department. Objective: This study explores the validity of screening test for at-risk drinking, which was a newly developed abbreviated version of the alcohol use disorder identification test, among patients in the emergency department. Method: A survey was conducted at the emergency department of an academic tertiary hospital in South Korea during 4 months. All patients, who visited the emergency department and were between 19 and 65 years of age, answered the alcohol use disorder identification test questionnaire. In this study, at-risk drinking was identified using alcohol use disorder identification test. Results: The screening test was completed by 178 patients in this study. At-risk drinking group comprises 78 patients (43.8%). The cut-off values of screening test for at-risk drinking were 3 for males and 2 for females. As a result, the sensitivity/specificity was 98.0/93.5 and 96.4/79.6 for men and women, respectively. Area under the receiver operating characteristics of screening test for at-risk drinking was 0.9 and 0.9 in men and women, respectively. Conclusion: screening test for at-risk drinking is a useful test that easily identifies at-risk drinking. It is expected that this test can facilitate screening for at-risk drinking in emergency department setting.