Background and aims: Most studies validating the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) have either assessed its factor structure and/or test-retest reliability or used diagnostic interviews as validators of current alcohol use disorders. The aim of the present study was to determine whether AUDIT and AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C) scores are associated with subsequent risk of hospital admission for alcohol-related disorders and diseases (ARDDs).
Design: We used a historical cohort study. Using national registers, survey respondents were tracked from 1 September 2011 to hospitalization for an ARDD, emigration, death, or 31 December 2018, whichever occurred first.
Setting: Denmark.
Participants: Respondents (n = 4522) from a Danish national survey conducted in autumn 2011.
Measurements: Outcome was incident ARDD admission recorded in the National Patient Register. Predictors were AUDIT and AUDIT-C scores, and covariates were age, gender, highest level of education and previous psychiatric disorder.
Findings: During the study period, 56 respondents had a first-time ARDD admission. Respondents who scored above the 8-point AUDIT cut-off and respondents who scored above the 5-point AUDIT-C cut-off had a significantly increased risk of being admitted for an ARDD compared with respondents who scored below the cut-offs, (AUDIT: hazard ratio (HR), 4.72; 95% CI, 2.59-8.60; AUDIT-C: HR, 7.97; 95% CI, 3.66-17.31).
Conclusions: Scores above alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) and AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C) cut-offs are associated with an increased risk of long-term alcohol-related hospital admissions. At widely used cut-offs, the AUDIT-C is a better predictor of alcohol-related hospitalizations among members of the general population than the full AUDIT.
Keywords: AUDIT; AUDIT-C; Alcohol; cohort; hospitalization; registries; screening; validation.
© 2022 The Authors. Addiction published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society for the Study of Addiction.