THE FAST ALCOHOL SCREENING TEST
Abstract
Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as the gold standard, the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST) was developed for use in busy medical settings. AUDIT questionnaires were completed by 666 patients in two London accident & emergency (A&E) departments. Using a principal components analysis, as well as sensitivity and specificity indices, a two-stage screening test was developed, using four of the AUDIT items. The first stage involved one item that identified >50% of patients as either hazardous or non-hazardous drinkers. The second stage made use of the other three items to categorize the rest. The performance of this four-item questionnaire was then tested across a range of settings. Opportunistic samples of 100 patients completed AUDIT questionnaires in each of the following National Health Service settings: A&E department, fracture clinic, primary health centre and a dental hospital. It was concluded that the four-item FAST questionnaire had good sensitivity and specificity, across a range of settings, when the AUDIT score was used as the gold standard. The FAST questionnaire is quick to administer, since >50% of patients are categorized using just one question.
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Five other studies applied the Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT) or the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST).
“Five other studies applied the Alcohol Use Identification Test (AUDIT [55]) or the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST [56]).”
From Effectiveness of Guided and Unguided Low-Intensity Internet Interventions for Adult Alcohol Misuse: A Meta-Analysis (2014) · cites this paper as [56]
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- Authors
- Hodgson, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Wales (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hodgson, R.
- Venue
- Alcohol and Alcoholism
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2002-01-01
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 61-66
- ISSN
- 0735-0414 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3502
- OpenAlex
- W2102945148
- Cited by
- 371
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2025: 7 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 7.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Alcohol and Alcoholism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Middlesex University Research Repository (Middlesex University Of London) (submittedVersion)
- Cardiff Metropolitan Research Repository (Cardiff Metropolitan University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- alcohol screening, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, auditing, alcohol abuse, hazardous drinking, sensitivity and specificity, emergency department, opportunistic screening, primary care
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Alcoholism, Family Practice, Female, Humans, Male, Mass Screening, Predictive Value of Tests, Primary Health Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Time Factors
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