Questionable generalizability of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption scoring warrants caution when used for outcome monitoring: Evidence from simulated and real-world trial data.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

The "Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - Consumption" (AUDIT-C), designed for primary-care screening, is frequently repurposed for outcome monitoring in brief intervention trials targeting problematic alcohol use. This repurposing may distort the instrument's internal structure and introduce right censoring, potentially undermining its ability to meaningfully capture problematic use and change thereof. The aim of the current study was to examine these concerns.

Design

Psychometric study.

Setting and participants

Data from three sources were used: (1) individual-participant data from an internet-based brief intervention trial (n = 1169); (2) aggregated data from k = 15 additional brief intervention trials; and (3) k = 20 000 simulated cohort

SUBMITTER: Romero D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12319651 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature