Portuguese Validated Versions of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: A Systematic Review Protocol

Alcohol consumption ranks among the top ten risk factors contributing to the global disease burden. Several international organizations recommend the use of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test to screen for at-risk drinkers. However, a fully validated Portuguese version of this test is lacking. The aim of this study is to systematically review validated versions of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in the Portuguese language, the documented problems and solutions in its application and proposed cut-offs to identify at-risk drinkers.

A systematic search will be performed in Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ÍndexRMP, LILACS, African Journals Online and SciELO databases, along with grey literature searches to identify validation studies of the AUDIT in Portuguese. Two authors will independently extract data and assess the studies' methodological quality, using QUADAS-2 and CASP checklists.

This review will compare different validation studies of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in Portuguese-speaking countries, reporting, where possible, the psychometric properties, performance characteristics, suggested cut-offs and any documented limitations and suggestions. The results of this review could be used to propose an update of the alcohol screening and brief intervention guidelines in Portugal. The results could also prove useful to support the implementation of alcohol screening delivery by healthcare providers in Portugal and other official Portuguese-speaking countries.

This review will provide important information on the validity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test as a screening tool for at-risk drinking in Portugal and other official Portuguese speaking countries.