A brief method of screening for alcoholism.

Subjects given a research diagnosis of alcoholism were evaluated to determine whether key symptoms exist which provide a means of rapid screening for alcoholism. Alcoholic subjects were compared with a large control group of non-alcoholics. A very high percent of alcoholics was identified by the subject's report that he or others believed the subject drank too much. Few non-alcoholic subjects reported that either they or others had such beliefs. Thus, several easy questions can serve as highly reliable screening tests for alcoholism.