[Alcohol use disorder: screening, diagnosis and follow-up]

In the clinical assessment of alcohol use disorder (AUD), measuring tools are essential to help recognizing the condition, determining the severity of the disorder, and assessing craving and relapse after identifying potential complications. Currently, there are no measurement tools available in Hungary that can quantify the severity of alcohol dependence, the extent of alcohol craving, and the risk of relapse, or help in the early detection of complicated alcohol withdrawal syndrome (c-AWS). There for the aim of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric indicators of the Hungarian versions of the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SAD-Q), Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), Multidimensional Alcohol Craving Scale (MACS), Alcohol Relapse Risk Scale (ARRS), and the Prediction of Alcohol Withdrawal Severity Scale (PAWSS).

The present study was conducted among patients (n = 44) admitted to the Department of Psychiatry, University of Szeged with a diagnosis of alcohol dependence, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, or alcohol withdrawal syndrome with delirium. In addition to the aforementioned questionnaires, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were administered. Internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlation) and convergent validity indices (Spearman correlations) were calculated, Mann-Whitney test was used to assess differences in the risk of relapse for the ARRS total score, and the independent-sample t-test was used to explore differences in complicated and non- complicated withdrawal for the PAWSS total score. In addition, binomial logistic regression was performed for both scales to analyze whether total scores were good predictors of c-AWS and relapse.

Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.875 to 0.948, and the construct validity indices (Spearman correlations) ranged from 0.537 to 0.760. For the ARRS, significantly higher total scores were found for those who relapsed within 3 months, and for the PAWSS, significantly higher total scores were found for patients experiencing complicated withdrawal. The ARRS and PAWSS total scores are good predictors of relapse and c-AWS.

Based on our results, the questionnaires listed are reliable and valid measuring instruments, and their use might facilitate a more modern investigation and treatment of AUD.