Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #96788

Cheryl J. Cherpitel, DrPH, Jason Bond, PhD, and Yu Ye, MA. Alcohol Research Group, 2000 Hearst Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709, 510 642-0164, ccherpitel@arg.org

Little data is available of the performance of brief screening instruments for alcohol use disorders cross-culturally. Performance of the RAPS4 for tolerance and the RAPS4-QF for heavy drinking are analyzed from emergency room (ER) data across 13 countries included in the combined Emergency Room Collaborative Alcohol Analysis Project (ERCAAP) and the WHO Collaborative Study on Alcohol and Injuries. The RAPS4 showed good sensitivity and specificity for tolerance across most of the countries, but was higher in those countries higher on societal-level detrimental drinking patterns. Prevalence of tolerance was also higher in those countries with high detrimental drinking pattern scores. Sensitivity of the RAPS4-QF for heavy drinking was uniformly high across countries, while maintaining good specificity, and did not vary by detrimental drinking patterns. Findings suggest the RAPS4 and RAPS4-QF may hold promise cross-nationally. Future research should more fully address the performance of brief screening instruments for alcohol use disorders (using standard diagnostic criteria) cross-nationally, with consideration of the impact of societal drinking patterns.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of this session the participant will be able to discuss the performance of one screening instrument for alcohol use disorders and cultural variables which affect performance.

Keywords: Alcoholism, Emergency Department/Room

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation