With the single interview question, screening is positive with just one heavy drinking day in the past year. Isn’t that casting a very broad net?
A common reaction to the screening question is, “Everybody’s going to meet this, at least occasionally.” A large national survey by NIAAA, however, showed that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults never exceed the limits in the screening question. Even if patients report that they only drink heavily on rare occasions, screening provides an opportunity to educate them about safe drinking limits so that heavy drinking doesn’t become more frequent. The risk for alcohol-related problems rises with the number of heavy drinking days, and some problems, such as driving while intoxicated or trauma, can occur with a single occasion.
A common reaction to the screening question is, “Everybody’s going to meet this, at least occasionally.” A large national survey by NIAAA, however, showed that nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults never exceed the limits in the screening question.3 Even if patients report that they only drink heavily on rare occasions, screening provides an opportunity to educate them about safe drinking limits so that heavy drinking doesn’t become more frequent. The risk for alcohol-related problems rises with the number of heavy drinking days,1 and some problems, such as driving while intoxicated or trauma, can occur with a single occasion.
Related Questions
- With the single interview question, screening is positive with just one heavy drinking day in the past year. Isn’t that casting a very broad net?
- What can I do if a patients AUDIT-C score was high because they were a heavy drinker in the past year but now are no longer drinking?
- How effective is screening for heavy drinking?
