Alcohol use disorders in primary care patients in Cagliari, Italy

To evaluate the number of subjects with possible alcohol use disorders (SPAUD) among primary care patients in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, by means of the self-administration of Alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) and CAGE questionnaires.

939 patients waiting in 10 surgeries of primary care physicians were asked to take part in the study. A sample of 309 women and 197 men (total 506), aged between 18 and 65 years, agreed to participate and completed both questionnaires. SPAUD were defined as those achieving cut-off scores of 5 for AUDIT and/or 1 for CAGE.

Seventy-nine (15.61%) patients were SPAUD, achieving a positive score in at least one questionnaire. Fifty-six (11.07%) and forty-six (9.09%) patients yielded positive results with AUDIT and CAGE, respectively. Twenty-three (4.55%) patients were positive at both AUDIT and CAGE. Significantly higher proportions of men than women were recorded among SPAUD.

The results of the present survey indicate a high number of SPAUD in a sample of primary care settings in Cagliari, closely similar to the occurrence of alcohol use disorders estimated in several other community-based primary care clinics in Western Countries.