TY - JOUR
PY - 2013//
TI - Assessment of alcohol use patterns among Spanish-speaking patients
JO - Substance abuse
A1 - Vaca, Federico E.
A1 - Dykzeul, Brad
A1 - Chakravarthy, Bharath
A1 - Weiss, Jie
A1 - Hoonpongsimanont, Wirachin
A1 - Roumani, Samer
A1 - Anderson, Craig Lewis
A1 - Cisneros, Victor
A1 - Lotfipour, Shahram
SP - 155
EP - 161
VL - 34
IS - 2
N2 - Objective: The objective of this study was to assess drinking patterns of Spanish-speaking patients using a bilingual computerized alcohol screening and brief intervention (CASI) tablet computer equipped with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary university hospital emergency department (ED) between 2006 and 2010. Data from 1816 Spanish-speaking ED patients were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test for independence, and the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test for comparisons using quantitative variables. Results: Overall, 15% of Spanish-speaking patients were at-risk drinkers, and 5% had an AUDIT score consistent with alcohol dependency (≥20). A higher percentage of Spanish-speaking males than females were at-risk drinkers or likely dependent. Spanish-speaking males exhibited higher frequency of drinking days per week and higher number of drinks per day compared with females. Among older patients, nondrinking behavior increased and at-risk drinkers decreased. The majority of males and females were ready to change their behavior after the CASI intervention; 61% and 69%, respectively, scored 8-10. Conclusions: This study indicated that CASI was an effective tool for detecting at-risk and likely dependent drinking behavior in Spanish-speaking ED patients. The majority of patients were ready to change their drinking behavior. More alcohol screening and brief intervention tools should be tested and become readily accessible for Spanish-speaking patients. Language: en
LA - en
SN - 0889-7077
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2012.728990
ID - ref1
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