AUDIT and AUDIT-C as screening instruments for alcohol problem use in adolescents

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Psychiatry
• Screening Tools

Background:

• The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is widely used for adult alcohol consumption screening.
• Limited research exists on AUDIT's utility in adolescent populations.
• This study aimed to validate AUDIT and AUDIT-C for detecting problem alcohol use in adolescents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and its derivative, the AUDIT-C, as screening instruments for problem alcohol use in adolescents.
• To determine optimal cut-off scores for early detection of alcohol problem use in this age group.

Main Methods:

• 621 adolescents (aged 12-19) from clinical and population samples completed the AUDIT questionnaire.
• Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed using the K-SADS-PL, with alcohol use habits evaluated against these diagnoses.
• Screening performance was analyzed using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and diagnostic odds ratios (dOR).

Main Results:

• AUDIT demonstrated slightly better test performance than AUDIT-C across the sample.
• Optimal cut-off for AUDIT was ≥5 (sensitivity 0.931, specificity 0.772, dOR 45.22).
• Optimal cut-off for AUDIT-C was ≥3 (sensitivity 0.952, specificity 0.663, dOR 39.31), with high agreement (91.9%) between the two instruments at these cut-offs.

Conclusions:

• Recommended cut-off scores for early detection of alcohol problem use in adolescents are AUDIT ≥5 and AUDIT-C ≥3.
• These validated cut-offs provide reliable screening tools for adolescent alcohol use disorders.
• The study supports the use of AUDIT and AUDIT-C in adolescent screening protocols.