Cj. Cherpitel, SCREENING FOR ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM - A RAPID ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS SCREEN, Drug and alcohol dependence, 40(2), 1995, pp. 133-137
This paper compares the sensitivity and specificity of a five-item Rap
id Alcohol Problems Screen (RAPS) optimized in this sample with the CA
GE, brief MAST, AUDIT, TWEAK, History of Trauma Scale and breathalyzer
reading against ICD-10 criteria for alcohol dependence or harmful dri
nking, by gender, ethnicity and injury status in a probability sample
of emergency room patients (n = 1330) from the University of Mississip
pi Medical Center. The RAPS performed better than all other screening
instruments for the total sample of current drinkers who reported ever
having had three or more drinks at one time (sensitivity of 90%, spec
ificity of 78%), and performed consistently better across all subgroup
s than any other single instrument, even at alternate cut points. The
Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen may hold promise for use in clinical set
tings in identifying those who could benefit from a brief intervention
or referral for problem drinking, particularly since the instrument i
s short and patients need not be asked additional questions after scre
ening positive on one of the five items. Further research is necessary
to analyze and compare the performance of the RAPS with other screeni
ng instruments across demographic subgroups in other emergency room an
d primary care settings.