Clinimetric and Psychometric Evidences of an Instrument to Assess Craving for Inhalants in a Sample of Users

Introduction: craving is an important criterion in the diagnosis of inhalant use disorder; detecting this condition in the inhalant addictive cycle can help in predicting prolonged abstinence or relapses. Objective: to describe the psychometric and clinimetric evidence of the craving scale in a sample of users. Method: a cross-sectional study with a non-probability sample of 76 adult participants. For the analysis, the sample was divided into two groups: inhalant use disorder group (n = 60) an experimental user group (n = 16). A craving scale for inhalants was applied. A descriptive, factorial analysis and a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis were performed. Results: the ROC analysis to differentiate between users with inhalant users disorder and experimental users showed a cut-off point of 36 mm, with a sensitivity of .983 and a specificity of .813 (1= specificity of .187). The overall analysis showed that the craving scores of users with inhalant use disorder were considerably higher (M = 417.15, SD = 215) than experimental users (M = 185, SD = 136.25). Discussion and conclusions: clinical evidence showed a valid cut-off point to detect the presence of craving in inhalant users and this score can be used as an objective reference in clinical practice; the craving scale has adequate reliability and validity evidence.