Screening Tests for Alcoholism – Findings from a Community Study

Summary As an attempt to gauge the sensitivity of questionnaires designed to detect alcoholism two parallel studies were conducted. In the first all persons who had been interviewed during a community survey investigation of alcoholism were screened against the hospital records of the psychiatric services which covered the survey area. It was found that less than 50 per cent of known active ‘alcoholics’ and known active ‘problem drinkers’ were detected by the survey questionnaire. On the second study all persons identified as either ‘problem drinkers’ or ‘alcoholics’ in the original community study were re‐interviewed using the same questionnaire (the CBQ) plus two established alcoholism screening tests (the SMAST and CAGE). It was found that whereas the CAGE and CBQ showed good agreement in detecting the same people as being ‘alcoholic’, the SMAST appeared to screen out only the more severe cases. The implications of both studies are considered and the utility of screening tests for alcoholism considered.