Detecting risk drinking during pregnancy: A comparison of four screening questionnaires

M. Russell, S.S. Martier, R.J. Sokol, P. Mudar, S. Jacobson and J. Jacobson

American Journal of Public Health, 1996, vol. 86, issue 10, 1435-1439

Abstract: Objectives. This study investigated the efficacy of screening for risk drinking during pregnancy, with two brief questionnaires, TWEAK and T-ACE. Both include an assessment of tolerance based on the number of drinks women report they can hold. Methods. Subjects were disadvantaged African-American obstetric patients in Detroit. Mich. Traditional alcoholism screens (Michigan Alcohol Screening Test [MAST], CAGE) and the tolerance question were administered (n = 2717); TWEAK and T-ACE were constructed from tolerance and embedded MAST and CAGE items. In a separate sample (n = 1420), only the T- ACE was administered. Periconceptional risk drinking was the gold standard. Screen evaluations were based on receiver-operating characteristic analyses. Results. At the cutpoint of 2, sensitivity/specificity for embedded screens were 91/77 for TWEAK and 88/79 for T-ACE: comparable values for T-ACE alone were 67/86. TWEAK and T-ACE screened more effectively than CAGE or MAST. Conclusions. Embedded versions of TWEAK and T-ACE were both highly sensitive to periconceptional risk drinking in thin population. Administering T-ACE alone reduced its sensitivity: this suggests that MAST and CAGE administration improves its performance.

Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1996:86:10:1435-1439_6

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