Adverse drinking consequences among alcohol abusing intravenous drug users

Background: Heavy alcohol use is common among out-of-treatment injection dr ug users (IDUs); however, the relationship between alcohol and drug use beh aviors in codependent populations is not well understood. Our specific obje ctives were (1) to describe the psychometric properties of the Drinker Inve ntory of Consequences (DrInC) in a sample of active IDUs, and (2) to compar e DrInC scores of active IDUs with those reported for the alcohol treatment seeking sample on which the instrument was developed. Methods: Interview data were collected from 187 active IDUs who scored posi tively (greater than or equal to 8) on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identifica tion Test, who were recruited from a Providence, RI, needle exchange progra m (1998-1999). DrInC total and subscale scores for the 159 (85%) participan ts who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence were analyzed. Six- month follow-up data were used to estimate test-retest reliability. Results: The DrInC total scale exhibited high internal consistency and test -retest reliability. With the exception of adverse physical consequences, r eliability estimates for DrInC subscales were good to very good. These data indicate higher subscale redundancy than reported for the development samp le. Active IDUs had significantly higher adverse impulse control consequenc es than the alcohol treatment seeking population on which the instrument wa s developed. Conclusions: The DrInC exhibits desirable psychometric properties for asses sing adverse drinking consequences in active IDU populations. IDUs who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence reported overall levels of adv erse drinking consequences comparable with non-IDU alcohol treatment popula tions but were more likely to exhibit adverse impulse control consequences.