OBJECTIVE: To validate the subjective part of the MALT questionnaire (MALT-S) for the detection of alcoholism among the adult population. DESIGN: A descriptive study on the validation of a diagnostic tool. SETTING: Two primary health care centres, a centre for drug addicts and a centre for alcoholics in Cordoba (Spain). PARTICIPANTS: 614 patients, between 18 and 80 years. MEASUREMENTS: Through personal interviews the MALT, AUDIT and SCAN questionnaires were given. The internal reliability, stability and both the criterion and convergent validity were analysed. RESULTS: The mean age of the population' was 43+/-1.43 (SD) years and 17.4% of them showed Alcohol Dependence Syndrome. The Kappa coefficients of the test items ranged from 0.568 to 0.969. The Cronbach alpha of the complete MALT was 0.919, of the MALT-S, 0.939 and of the MALT-O, 0.737. The area under the ROC curve of the MALT-S was 0.946 and that of the complete MALT was 0.953. For a cut-off point of four, the sensitivity of the MALT-S is 92.7% while its specificity was 90.9%. The correlation coefficient of the MALT-S and AUDIT was 0.86 (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The MALT-S questionnaire is as valid and reliable as the complete MALT; therefore, it can be used on its own for the diagnosis of alcoholism.
OBJECTIVE: To validate the subjective part of the MALT questionnaire (MALT-S) for the detection of alcoholism among the adult population. DESIGN: A descriptive study on the validation of a diagnostic tool. SETTING: Two primary health care centres, a centre for drug addicts and a centre for alcoholics in Cordoba (Spain). PARTICIPANTS: 614 patients, between 18 and 80 years. MEASUREMENTS: Through personal interviews the MALT, AUDIT and SCAN questionnaires were given. The internal reliability, stability and both the criterion and convergent validity were analysed. RESULTS: The mean age of the population' was 43+/-1.43 (SD) years and 17.4% of them showed Alcohol Dependence Syndrome. The Kappa coefficients of the test items ranged from 0.568 to 0.969. The Cronbach alpha of the complete MALT was 0.919, of the MALT-S, 0.939 and of the MALT-O, 0.737. The area under the ROC curve of the MALT-S was 0.946 and that of the complete MALT was 0.953. For a cut-off point of four, the sensitivity of the MALT-S is 92.7% while its specificity was 90.9%. The correlation coefficient of the MALT-S and AUDIT was 0.86 (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The MALT-S questionnaire is as valid and reliable as the complete MALT; therefore, it can be used on its own for the diagnosis of alcoholism.
Authors: J M Bueno Ortiz; J Aubà Llambrich; A Altaba Barceló; M Boneu Castells; C Cabaco Reverte; A Manzano Sarciada; C Marquilles Bonet; G Pizarro Romero; E Duran Bellido; C Romero Truño Journal: Aten Primaria Date: 1997-02-15 Impact factor: 1.137
Authors: J L Vázquez-Barquero; L Gaite; J Artal Simón; A Arenal; S Herrera Castanedo; J F Díez Manrique; M J Cuesta Núñez; A Higuera Journal: Actas Luso Esp Neurol Psiquiatr Cienc Afines Date: 1994 May-Jun