Psychometric properties of the 11-item self-report Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) were evaluated in a sample of heavy drug users from prison, probation, and inpatient detoxification settings, and in a general Swedish population sample. In the drug user sample, the DUDIT predicted drug dependence with a sensitivity of 90% for both DSM-4 and ICD-10 and a respective specificity of 78 and 88%. Reliability according to Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.80. In the population sample, 3.1% scored positive on the DUDIT; T-score values are suggested. The DUDIT screens effectively for drug-related problems in clinically selected groups and may prove useful in the context of public health surveys.

The original KSP scales were revised, shortened, modernized and psychometrically evaluated. The psychometric properties and the usefulness of the test battery were found to be substantially improved.

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was completed by 997 persons randomly selected from the general Swedish population (80% response rate). Eighteen per cent of the men and 5% of the women had hazardous or harmful alcohol use according to the > or =8 score criterion. AUDIT scores decreased with increasing age in both genders. Women are more sensitive to alcohol than men and when the cut-off score was set to > or =6, the female prevalence of hazardous or harmful alcohol use increased to nearly 11%. The 'binge drinking' question explained half of the total AUDIT variance and is thus the best item indicator of hazardous or harmful alcohol use in the test. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses revealed two AUDIT basic factors, the first three items defining a 'hazardous consumption' factor and the other seven items an 'alcohol-related problems' factor. Both the internal and test- retest reliability of the Swedish version of AUDIT were satisfactory. A table for converting raw scores to non-normalized T-scores for each combination of gender and three age intervals is presented.

No abstract

Alcohol use during pregnancy is more extensive than has been presumed in Sweden. Simple, clinically useful screening methodology detects hazardous consumption during pregnancy in a manner which regular antenatal care does not. If this methodology can be shown to have similar sensitivity when administered under non-anonymous conditions, it should be made part of routine antenatal care.

No abstract

In the period 1977-1979, a sample of consecutively admitted alcoholic in-patients was studied with CT scan of the brain and neuropsychological tests. A subsample of 52 patients met the following criteria: age less than 46 years, no history of severe head injury or focal signs of traumatic brain damage, and no history of liver disease, drug abuse, or long-lasting anticonvulsant therapy. However, 72% of the patients showed brain atrophy and 49% intellectual impairment as compared to 16% and 13%, respectively, in an age-matched sample of men from the general population. Five years later, after excluding patients with head trauma, serious alcoholic liver disease and drug abuse, 37 patients were reinvestigated. Sixteen patients were abstinent or had greatly improved drinking habits during the 5-year follow-up period and 21 were still drinking. Alcohol abstinence was found to be associated with a regress of cortical atrophy and central atrophy as assessed by the width of the 3rd ventricle. However, the recovery was not complete as compared with the prevalence of atrophy in the sample from the general population. Among the patients a significant improvement in one cognitive test and a trend to improvement in some other tests associated with improved drinking habits was observed. Regression of central atrophy as assessed by a decreased diameter of the 3rd ventricle was associated with improvement in the very same cognitive tests. The results suggest that both atrophy of the brain and cognitive ability can improve in alcoholics who give up drinking.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The results demonstrate that changes in brain volume during short-term abstinence in chronic alcohol-dependent patients are confined to the WM. The time limit of WM volume restitution is variable and continues longer than 3 weeks after withdrawal.