Capacidad discriminativa de una pregunta simple como instrumento de tamizaje para el consumo nocivo de alcohol en un servicio médico universitario

Introduction: Alcohol misuse has been recognized as a public health problem in universities. It is possible to achieve a preventive approach if early identification of people with risky and harmful drinking patterns is achieved. There are multiple screening instruments with acceptable sensitivity. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has recommended the use of a simple question to screen hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption in primary care and their incorporation into routine clinical practice. Objective: To determine the discriminative ability of a simple question as a screening in a student health service. Methods: We applied this question to 303 patients treated at a university medical service, followed by the AUDIT. Results: Using AUDIT as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of the simple question to detect hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.68-0.98) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.70-0.80), respectively, with a negative predictive value of 99.1%. Conclusions: The simple question can timely detect people with risky and harmful alcohol consumption in a university medical service. This requires implementing a systematic approach to timely identify and intervene in this problem.