Comparing Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) with Timeline Follow Back (TLFB), DSM-5 and Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) for the assessment of alcohol misuse among young people in Ugandan fishing communities.
Journal article

Comparing Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) with Timeline Follow Back (TLFB), DSM-5 and Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) for the assessment of alcohol misuse among young people in Ugandan fishing communities.

  • Kuteesa MO MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Cook S Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
  • Weiss HA MRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
  • Kamali A International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Weinmann W Department of Forensic Toxicology and Chemistry, Institute for Research Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland.
  • Seeley J MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Ssentongo JN MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Kiwanuka T MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Namyalo F MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Nsubuga D MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
  • Webb EL MRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
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  • 2019-12-13
Published in:
  • Addictive behaviors reports. - 2019
English Background
Validated tools for assessing alcohol use among young people in low-income countries are needed to estimate prevalence and evaluate alcohol-reduction interventions. We validated Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) against Timeline Follow Back (TLFB), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and phosphatidylethanol (PEth); and the 30-day-AUDIT against the 12-months-AUDIT among young Ugandans.


Methods
In 2018, we collected retrospective data on 30-day and 12-month AUDIT, TLFB and DSM-5 in a cross-sectional study of 15-24 year old residents of Ugandan fishing communities. AUDIT was administered by Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI) and DSM-5 and TLFB by psychiatric nurses. We determined PEth16:0/18:1 levels from dried blood spots using liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (heavy usage, ≥210 ng/mL) and calculated sensitivity and specificity of AUDIT against the other measures.


Results
Among 1281 participants (52.7% male, mean age 20 years), half (n = 659; 51.4%) reported ever drinking alcohol, 19.4% had 12-month-AUDIT ≥ 8 (21.5% men; 17.0% women), and 24.2% had 30-day-AUDIT ≥ 8 (29.0% men; 18.9% women). Twenty percent of participants had detectable PEth with 55 (4.3%) classified as heavy drinkers; 50.7% reported ≥ 2 symptoms on DSM-5 and 6.3% reported binge drinking in the previous month based on TLFB (8.9% men, 3.5% women). The 30-day-AUDIT ≥ 8 had sensitivity 86.7%, 95%CI: 81.8%-90.7% and specificity 90.9%, 95%CI:89.0%-92.6% versus 12-month-AUDIT ≥ 8. Both 30-day and 12-month-AUDIT ≥ 8 were sensitive and specific markers of heavy drinking by PEth (12-month-AUDIT sensitivity = 80.0%; 95%CI:67.0%-89.6%; specificity = 83.3%; 95%CI:81.1%-85.3%). The 30-day-AUDIT was a sensitive and specific marker of binge drinking based on TLFB (sensitivity = 82.7%; 95%CI:72.7%-90.2%, specificity = 79.8%; 95%CI:77.4%-82.1%); 12-month-AUDIT had lower sensitivity. Both 30-day and 12-month AUDIT ≥ 8 were highly specific but insensitive markers of having DSM-5 ≥ 2 symptoms.


Conclusion
Among young people in Uganda, ACASI-administered 30-day and 12-month-AUDIT have good diagnostic properties compared to PEth, DSM-5 and TLFB. Self-reported AUDIT provides a quick and valid means of assessing alcohol misuse in these communities.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/230036
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