Alcohol drinking is a serious health problem in the aboriginal community, primarily related to traffic accidents and liver diseases. CAGE is a validated and simple instrument to identify those at risk of alcoholic problem in the Western country. This study focuses on the testing of CAGE as a screening instrument for problem drinking in the aboriginal community in Taiwan. CAGE was translated into the local language and back translated into English. In this study, problem drinking was defined as daily alcohol consumption more than 40 gm as suggested by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. There were a total of 484 people in the study area who were interviewed. The results cannot support the applicability of CAGE in the aboriginal community. The discriminative power of this instrument is poor when cross-compared with drinking amount. For those answering with one positive CAGE, almost half (45.5%) were regarded as problem drinkers by the definition (>40 gm/day). But for those answering three to four positive CAGE score, only one third (36.4%) was regarded as problem drinkers. The reason for the low sensitivity of CAGE may relate to the interpretation of words in different cultures. The phrase of °§guilty feeling°¨ is not acceptable in the Chinese culture. Higher daily alcohol consumption was found in those respondents answering °§ No°¨ to the question °§Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking? °§. When using instrument developed in different culture, a careful evaluation of the instrument should be conducted.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the study, the participant will recognize the impact of culture on the alcohol screening instrument in aboriginal community
Keywords: Alcohol Problems, Ethnic Minorities
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.