Overview

Alcohol use disorders are alarmingly high in the University population. Screening instruments is essential for the measurement of the epidemiological and clinical practice. The objective of this study is to compare the performance of screening instruments most used internationally (AUDIT, AUDIT-C, TWEAK, RAPS-QF and CAGE) in university students of Argentina. Instruments of screening, along with the diagnostic made international interview, which allows compatible with DSM 5 Diagnostics, were administered to a probabilistic sample (N = 2,430) of a national public university students. Among others, evaluated the optimal cut-off points, sensitivity, specificity, internal consistency and the time-stability, as well as the presence and the capacity of discrimination of the items. The global appreciation of the results suggests that both the AUDIT and the RAPS-QF would be the preferred instruments to detect the presence of disorder by alcohol use in this population.

Abstract

The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in university students is alarmingly high. Screening instruments are essential for both, epidemiological research and clinical practice. The aim of this article is to compare the performance of the most widely used screening instruments (AUDIT, AUDIT-C, TWEAK, RAPS-QF, and CAGE) in Argentinean university students. Screening tests, along with the Alcohol Section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview that yields DSM 5 compatible diagnoses were administered to a probabilistic sample (N = 2,430) of university students from national public university. The following characteristics were evaluated among others: optimal cutoff points, sensitivity, specificity, internal consistency, temporal stability, and item discrimination capacity and presence. The global appraisal of results suggests that the AUDIT and RAPS-QF would be préférable for evaluating AUD in this population.