QUALITY OF ALCOHOL-USE HISTORIES COLLECTED AT INTAKE TO SUBSTANCE USER TREATMENT

Many survey questions on alcohol require complex cognitive tasks, such as long-term recall, shifting reference periods, and numeric calculat ion. Moreover, alcohol-related impairment is known to affect cognitive ability. To assess the quality of data on self-reported alcohol use, internal consistency analyses were conducted as part of a comprehensiv e multisite prospective study of drug user treatment outcome undertake n in 11 cities throughout the United States (DATOS). Contrary to expec tation, analyses found high levels of internal consistency. For questi ons on age of initiation of different types of alcohol use, over 99% o f respondents (N = 2,842) reported consistent answers for each pair of logically related questions. Reports of being drunk and of quantity o f alcohol consumed were similarly consistent.