Correlation of self-administered alcoholism screening test with hemoglobin-associated acetaldehyde

Thirty subjects underwent analysis of the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST) and hemoglobin-associated acetaldehyde levels (HbAA). Eleven alcoholic individuals reporting for treatment, 10 self-defined "social drinkers" and 10 self-defined "teetotallers" who had consumed less than 6 drinks of ethanol per year ever in their lifetime and had not knowingly had ethanol for 6 months were included in the study. The SAAST scores and HbAA levels correlated with one another (r = .55, p = 0.002). For alcoholic individuals, the mean HbAA level was 180 +/- 64 nm/g Hb and the mean SAAST score was 17.3 +/- 6.3. Both analyses could distinguish the alcoholic from the teetotaller group (p = 0.03 for HbAA and p less than 0.001 for the SAAST) and from the group of social drinkers (p = 0.04 for HbAA and p less than 0.001 for the SAAST). The difference in HbAA levels between the social drinkers and teetotallers was not significant (132 +/- 25 vs. 129 +/- 15 nm/g Hb). After modification of the SAAST analysis for teetotallers, SAAST scores were significantly different between social drinkers and teetotallers (3.5 +/- 2.2 vs. 1.1 +/- 1.2, p = 0.009). We conclude that HbAA and SAAST correlate with each other may be clinically useful in distinguishing alcoholic from nonalcoholic individuals. While the SAAST appears to be the more sensitive test, it requires modification in the case of teetotallers.