@article{ref1,
title="Identification of hazardous/harmful drinking among subcritically injured patients",
journal="Academic emergency medicine",
year="1996",
author="Clifford, P. R. and Sparadeo, F. and Minugh, P. A. and Nirenberg, Ted D. and Woolard, Robert and Longabaugh, Richard and Becker, Bruce M.",
volume="3",
number="3",
pages="239-245",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between a saliva alcohol test (SAT) and hazardous/harmful drinking, as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), among a sample of subcritically injured patients. METHODS: Patients (n = 78) seeking treatment for a subcritical injury were saliva-tested for alcohol and interviewed regarding their drinking behaviors and related difficulties. Associations of SAT values with AUDIT results were determined. RESULTS: SAT results and hazardous/harmful drinking were not independent events (p < 0.001). Estimates of sensitivity and specificity (using a dichotomous SAT result [> or = 4 mmol/L] to identify positive AUDIT patients) were 65.2% and 83.6%, respectively. SAT-positive people had significantly higher AUDIT scores than did SAT-negative individuals (p < 0.0001). Patients experiencing assault-type injuries were much more likely to be SAT-positive than were patients incurring other types of injury. Discriminant function analysis suggests that AUDIT scores can successfully identify SAT-positive and SAT-negative patients; the analysis accounted for 42.5% of the variance and correctly classified 84.6% of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The use of an easy-to-administer, noninvasive, routine SAT, among patients presenting for a subcritical injury in a hospital ED, provides a mechanism for the identification of individuals with a history of hazardous/harmful drinking. However, since discrimination of hazardous/harmful drinking is imperfect, some caution is warranted when conducting such screening activities.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1069-6563",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}