EVALUATION OF 2 BIOLOGICAL MARKERS COMBINED AS A PARAMETER OF ALCOHOLDEPENDENCY

A test was constructed by combining carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (%CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GT) and was evaluated in detect ing alcohol-dependent patients in a surgical ward. The performance of the combined test was significantly better than that of either %CDT al one or GT alone, as evaluated by calculating sensitivity and likelihoo d ratio at a specificity of 0.85 and by comparing areas under receiver -operating characteristic curves statistically. Improved performance w as found for the whole group of patients, for men, for patients older than 35 years of age, and for those patients consuming more than 60 g alcohol per day. The performance of %CDT alone was similar to that of GT, %CDT being better in the age group 35-50 years, whereas GT was bet ter for those drinking less than 60 g per day and for the oldest patie nts (>50 years). Neither of the two tests or their combination perform ed well for patients younger than 36 years of age.