SCREENING FOR ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM - A RAPID ALCOHOL-PROBLEMS SCREEN

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.