Identifying harmful drinking using a single screening question in a psychiatric consultation-liaison population.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Internal Medicine
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Harmful alcohol use is prevalent in medical inpatients but often overlooked due to time constraints.
• The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recommends a screening question for past-year heavy drinking.
• Previous validation of this screening question occurred in primary care and emergency settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the psychometric properties of a modified single screening question (SSQ) for harmful drinking.
• To assess the SSQ's utility in hospitalized patients referred to a consultation-liaison service.

Main Methods:

• A modified single screening question (SSQ) was administered to 100 consultation-liaison patients.
• The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) served as the reference standard.
• Psychiatry attending physicians, residents, and medical students administered the SSQ.

Main Results:

• The SSQ demonstrated high sensitivity (.96) and specificity (.82) in detecting harmful drinking.
• No significant gender differences were observed in specificity.
• The SSQ correlated strongly with AUDIT subscales for dependence and harmful use.

Conclusions:

• The SSQ is a rapid and effective tool for identifying harmful drinking in alert, nonpsychotic consultation-liaison patients.
• This screening method can facilitate timely intervention for alcohol-related issues in hospitalized individuals.