Comparing the detection of transdermal and breath alcohol concentrations during periods of alcohol consumption ranging from moderate drinking to binge drinking.

Abstract

Binge drinking is a public health concern due to its association with negative health outcomes as well as increased legal and social consequences. Previous studies have frequently used self-reported alcohol consumption to classify binge drinking episodes; however, these measures are often limited in both detail and accuracy. Some researchers have begun using additional measures such as blood (BAC) and breath (BrAC) alcohol concentrations to supplement self-report data. Transdermal alcohol testing, or the detection of alcohol expiration through the skin, offers advantages over BAC and BrAC measures by allowing for continuous and noninvasive monitoring of an individual's drinking behavior in real-time. Despite these advantages, this technology has not been widely used or studied outside of forensic applications. The present research compares transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) and BrAC readings during the consumption of alcohol ranging from moderate drinking to binge drinking in 22 adult regular drinkers in order to investigate the sensitivity and specificity of the TAC monitors. We observed that BrAC and TAC measures were broadly consistent. Additionally, we were able to develop an equation that could predict BrAC results using TAC data, indicating TAC data would be an appropriate substitute in research and clinical contexts where BrAC readings are typically used. Finally, we were able to determine a cutoff point for peak TAC data that could reliably predict whether a participant had engaged in moderate or more than moderate drinking, suggesting TAC monitors could be used in settings where moderate or reduced drinking is the goal.

Time Delays in Transdermal Alcohol Concentrations Relative to Breath Alcohol Concentrations

“…On average, participants reported drinking 19.1 drinks per week, with participants in Study 2 (M = 26.8) reporting more drinks per week than those in Study 1 (M = 12.7) or Study 3 (M = 17.5). There were no other differences between the three studies in participant demographic characteristics (Dougherty et al, 2012;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2014;Dougherty et al, 2015b;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2015 for further demographic characteristics).…”

“…Data (n = 61) for this analysis came from three studies (Study 1 (11 women, 10 men), Study 2 (10 women, 11 men), Study 3 (8 women, 11 men)), in which one, two, three, four and five beers were consumed under controlled laboratory conditions as previously described (Dougherty et al, 2012;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2014;Dougherty et al, 2015b;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2015). Participants for these studies were recruited through community advertisements seeking healthy men and women aged 21-47 years who regularly consume alcohol.…”

“…In controlled laboratory alcohol drinking studies where men and women consumed equal amounts of beer, we previously reported alcohol dose-related effects in peak BrAC and TAC (Dougherty et al, 2012;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2014;Dougherty et al, 2015b;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2015). Using this information, we developed an equation to estimate BrAC from TAC to quantify drinking levels from TAC data.…”

“…The most commonly used transdermal alcohol monitor is the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) produced by Alcohol Monitoring Systems (AMS) Inc. (Highlands Ranch, CO). The SCRAM monitor records TAC every 30 min, 24 h/d, 7 days a week and used as an estimate of blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) (Swift et al, 1992;Sakai et al, 2006;Dougherty et al, 2012). The SCRAM has been widely adopted in judicial settings for monitoring drinking in driving while intoxicated offenders (Voas et al, 2011) and more recently has been increasingly used within clinical research (Barnett et al, 2011;Dougherty et al, 2014Dougherty et al, , 2015a.…”

“…Data were from three controlled laboratory studies where participants consumed one, two, three, four and five beers on separate days under slightly different conditions (previously published in Dougherty et al, 2012;Hill-Kapturczak et al, 2014;Dougherty et al, 2015b;HillKapturczak et al, 2015;Roache et al, 2015). These data were used to model the BrAC and TAC time-course curves and to examine characteristics of the time-course curves such as sex and dose differences in the peak and times to peak.…”