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309058
Psychometric Properties of a Single-item Assessing Drunkenness to Identify Hazardous Drinking: A Replication Study
Monday, November 17, 2014
Adam Barry, PhD
,
Health Education & Behavior, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Jennifer Cremeens, PhD, MSPH
,
Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Ryan J. Martin, PhD
,
Department of Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Michael Stellefson, Ph.D.
,
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Karen Vail Smith, MA
,
Health Education and Promotion, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Background: The 3-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) is a commonly used scale to screen for hazardous alcohol use in various settings, including primary and emergency care settings. In such settings, brevity of effective screening tools is needed; therefore, single items to assess unhealthy alcohol use have been developed and tested for sensitivity and specificity in detecting high-risk alcohol use behaviors. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend previous work intended to validate the ability of a non-quantity-based single item assessing drunkenness to effectively identify signs of hazardous alcohol use, as determined by the AUDIT-C. Methods: During fall 2013, alcohol use data were collected from a sample of 781 self-reported current drinkers, using the AUDIT-C items and a single item to measure frequency of drunkenness. In addition, breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) samples were collected. Concurrent validity of the drunkenness item to detect hazardous drinking behaviors, as determined by the gender-based AUDIT-C thresholds, was assessed. Examining the relationship of the single item to BrAC samples assessed convergent validity of the drunkenness item. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The single drunkenness item accounted for 0.856 of the area under the received operating characteristics (ROC) curve for hazardous alcohol use (p<0.001). Using a specific cut-off of 1, the drunkenness item was 99.8% sensitive in detecting hazardous drinking behavior. Conclusion: In a new sample, initial psychometric findings of concurrent and convergent validity of the single drunkenness item to accurately detect hazardous alcohol use were replicated.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Learning Objectives:
Describe the procedures used to replicate the work on validating a non-quantity-based single item assessing drunkenness to detect hazardous alcohol use, as determined by the AUDIT-C.
Explain the importance of validating a non-quantity-based single item for use in identifying hazardous alcohol use in primary and emergency care settings.
Keyword(s): Methodology, Research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Assistant Professor in Health Education, specializing in instrument development methodologies, and collected and analyzed the data to be presented.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
