Jw. Harasymiw et P. Bean, Identification of heavy drinkers by using the early detection of alcohol consumption score, ALC CLIN EX, 25(2), 2001, pp. 228-235
Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of routine
blood chemistry and hematology tests to detect heavy drinkers among ambulat
ory subjects. Heavy drinkers were defined as subjects who consumed an avera
ge of four or more standard drinks per day if male and an average of three
or more standard drinks per day if female, for at least 1 month before samp
le collection (1 standard drink = 15 ml of absolute ethanol).
Methods: A routine blood chemistry panel and the demographic factors of age
, sex, and ethnicity were evaluated by using linear discriminant function (
LDF) analysis to classify subjects as heavy drinkers dr light drinkers. The
classification was validated by comparison with drinking patterns establis
hed by standardized questionnaire and interview. Subjects (n = 807) were ma
les and females with known drinking patterns recruited from 25 centers that
included detoxification and rehabilitation institutions, churches, and com
munity groups in the Milwaukee and Boston areas.
Results: With LDF, 88% of the heavy drinkers and 92% of the light drinkers
were correctly identified by the Early Detection of Alcohol Consumption tes
t. The LDF performed the best when used to identify heavy drinking in ages
30 and above, a group that showed 84% (120 of 143) sensitivity at 97% (152
of 157) specificity. Performance in females showed 73% (76 of 103) sensitiv
ity at 94% (129 of 137) specificity, rates higher than obtained with any si
ngle biochemical marker previously examined. Receiver operating characteris
tic plot analysis showed areas under the curve of 0.94 for females and 0.95
for males (p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: The Early Detection of Alcohol Consumption score is a practica
l laboratory screen for detecting heavy drinking based on blood constituent
s ordered routinely in clinical settings.