Diagnostic usefulness of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin for detecting alcohol-related problems in hospitalized patients

We evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of carbohydrate-deficient transferri n (CDT) for detecting alcohol-related problems (ARP) in hospitalized patien ts, assessed potential differences according to gender and age, and compare d this value to the other screening measures conventionally used, namely th e CAGE questionnaire and standard biological markers MCV (mean corpuscular volume) and GGT (gamma -glutamyltransferase). CDT sensitivity for detecting ARP was 70%, specificity 75% and area under the receiver operating charact eristic curve 0.76%. Its sensitivity was shown to be lower both in the fema le group (65 vs 71%) as well as in the younger-age group whereas its specif icity was lower in the liver-damaged group (55%). CDT diagnostic value did not exceed that of CAGE (sensitivity 78% and specificity 99%), MCV (sensiti vity and specificity 74%) or GGT (sensitivity 82% and specificity 53%) but was better than those of other biochemical measures. We conclude that CDT i s an effective biological marker for the detection of ARP among hospitalize d patients, but that its diagnostic usefulness does not exceed that of some other alternative measures commonly used.