Screening for alcohol misuse in older people

✍ Scribed by Steven Luttrell; Vivienne Watkin; Gill Livingston; Zuzanna Walker; Penelope D'Ath; Priti Patel; Sukhiwinder Shergill; Alice Dain; Celia Bielawska; Cornelius Katona

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 115 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199712)12:12<1151::aid-gps700>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

Objectives. To evaluate whether the CAGE, MAST-G or an abnormally high MCV are eective screening instruments for alcohol misuse and if not to devise a new instrument.

Design. Questionnaire survey of randomly selected patients.

Setting. Acute admission wards of two district general hospitals.

Period. 9 months. Subjects. Randomly selected patients, aged 65 and over, admitted as emergencies.

Main outcome measures. Excessive alcohol intake, alcohol dependence.

Results. The sensitivities of the CAGE, MAST-G and an abnormally high MCV for excess alcohol intake and alcohol abuse are low, ranging from 0.13 to 0.54.

Conclusion. The results con®rm previous UK studies which indicate that the CAGE and an abnormally high MCV are poor screening instruments for alcohol misuse in older patients and also indicate that the MAST-G is an insensitive screening instrument. A new two-step instrument with ®ve questions in total was generated. This requires further validation.