Citation

Knightly R, Tadros G, Sharma J, Duffield P, Carnall E, Fisher J, Salman S. BJPsych Bull 2016; 40(2): 72-76.

Affiliation

Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Royal College of Psychiatrists)

DOI

10.1192/pb.bp.114.049734

PMID

27087989

Abstract

Aims and method Documented prevalence of alcohol misuse among older adult patients at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital is significantly lower than the national prevalence. We aimed to evaluate our alcohol misuse screening protocol for older adults to identify possible shortcomings. Hospital protocol is to screen all adults for alcohol misuse in the accident and emergency (A&E) department using the Fast Alcohol Screening Test (FAST). One hundred consecutive consenting in-patients aged 65-94 admitted via A&E subsequently undertook an additional alcohol screening test (Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test-Geriatric version; MAST-G).

RESULTS of the two tests were compared.

RESULTS FAST screening was completed for 71 patients and none were FAST-positive for alcohol misuse, yet using MAST-G, 18 patients scored positively for alcohol misuse. FAST screening failed to identify 8 patients with a documented history of alcohol misuse. Clinical implications Older adult alcohol misuse prevalence is significantly underreported using FAST. Screening older adults for alcohol problems requires a different approach to screening the general population.

Language: en