[Validation of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) in Mexican patients with schizophrenia]

To validate the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in schizophrenic patients.

The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI v. 1) and the AUDIT were administered to 80 subjects with schizophrenia, of both sexes, more than 16 years of age, from the outpatient services at the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico City.

Of the 80 schizophrenic patients, 57 were men and 23 women, with a mean age of 30.5 years and 34.3 years, respectively; the age at schizophrenia onset was 22 years for men, and 26 years for women; 35 subjects (43.7%) were consumers of alcohol at the time of the study. The AUDIT scale showed high internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.812; for this population, the cutoff point for the full AUDIT scale was 4 points or more; cutoff points for the AUDIT 'rapid test' and the 'psychosocial issues and probable alcohol dependence' were based on benchmarking against the CIDI (DSM-IIIR and ICD-10).

The AUDIT validation showed it to be a useful and sensitive screening tool for identifying schizophrenic patients at risk for alcohol abuse and dependence; therefore, it is recommended for use in clinical and epidemiological studies in Latin America.