Photo Credit: Arvydas Lakacauskas

Authors of a systematic review published in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine assessed the diagnostic accuracy of screening tools for detecting harmful substance use among adults receiving care in North American EDs. Jessica Moe, MD, and colleagues included 33 studies that evaluated various screening tools, with a focus on alcohol-related screens such as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT; n=14), Cut down/Annoyed/Guilty/Eye-opener (n=13), and Rapid Alcohol Problems Screen (RAPS; n=12). Six screening tools demonstrated sensitivities and specificities of at least 83% for detecting alcohol abuse/dependence. Among them, AUDIT and RAPS, along with the Single Alcohol Screening Question, emerged as promising options due to their high sensitivity and simplicity. However, the investigators recommended cautious interpretation of the findings because the overall risk of bias in the studies was mostly high or uncertain.