Binge drinking and its detection among middle-aged men using AUDIT, AUDIT-C and AUDIT-3

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Addiction Research

Background:

• Binge drinking, also known as heavy episodic drinking, is a prevalent behavior with significant public health implications.
• Limited research exists on effective methods for detecting this specific drinking pattern, particularly in middle-aged populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of the complete Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and two abbreviated versions (AUDIT-C and AUDIT-3) in identifying binge drinkers.
• To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these questionnaires in a population of middle-aged men.

Main Methods:

• A study was conducted in Tampere, Finland, involving 45-year-old men.
• Participants completed the full AUDIT questionnaire.
• Men were categorized into drinker groups (non-binging moderate, binging moderate, non-binging heavy, binging heavy) based on interviews.
• The complete AUDIT, AUDIT-C (quantity-frequency), and AUDIT-3 (binge-frequency) were analyzed for their ability to detect binge drinking.

Main Results:

• The complete AUDIT demonstrated effectiveness in detecting binge drinkers with cut-off scores of >=8 or >=7.
• The optimal cut-off score for AUDIT-C was >=6, and for AUDIT-3 was >=2.
• Area Under the Curve (AUC) values indicated good discriminatory power for all tested versions: AUDIT (0.824), AUDIT-C (0.829), and AUDIT-3 (0.779) among risky drinkers.

Conclusions:

• The complete AUDIT and its short versions are suitable for detecting binge drinking in populations where this pattern is dominant.
• It is crucial to adapt and tailor the cut-off scores of these screening tools to align with specific cultural contexts for optimal accuracy.