Validity of the AUDIT-C screen for at-risk drinking among students utilizing university primary care

ABSTRACT

Objective: Research is needed to establish the psychometric properties of brief screens in university primary care settings. This study aimed to assess the construct validity of one such screen, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C), for detecting at-risk drinking among students who have utilized on-campus primary care.

Participants: 389 students recently seen in university primary care completed a confidential online survey in December 2014.

Methods: Bivariate correlations between the AUDIT-C and measures of alcohol consumption and negative drinking consequences provided concurrent evidence for construct validity. Receiver Operating Characteristic curve analyses determined optimal cut-off scores for at-risk drinking.

Results: The AUDIT-C significantly correlated with measures of alcohol consumption and negative drinking consequences (p < .001). Analyses support optimal AUDIT-C cut-off scores of 5 for females and 7 for males.

Conclusions: The AUDIT-C is a valid screen for at-risk drinking among students who utilize university primary care.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• AUDIT-C
• college students
• primary care
• screening

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dr. Jennifer Funderburk for guidance in the development and execution of this project, and to Susan Sperry, Shannon Sweeney, and Emily Zale, who assisted with recruitment. Special thanks to Ryan Garver, who volunteered his time and programming talents to assist with online data collection.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Syracuse University.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by Syracuse University Department of Psychology student and faculty research funds. Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by grant 2K05 AA16928 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.