Primary Care Validation in French of a Single-question Screening Test for Unhealthy Alcohol Use.

Unhealthy alcohol use (UAU) is a very important public health concern. In France UAU is the second cause of avoidable death after tobacco smoking. In 2014, 31% of the French adult population presented with unhealthy alcohol use. Primary care practitioners have access to validated questionnaires in French such as the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Fast Alcohol Consumption Evaluation (FACE). These tests are not often used because of their length.

In 2009 a study by Smith et al in the USA compared a single question with the AUDIT-c (a short version of the AUDIT). The single question was "How many times in the past year have you had X or more drinks in a day?" Where X is 7 for men and 6 for women. This study found that the single question had a comparable sensitivity and a specificity, respectively 81,8% and 79,3%.

The aim of the study is to validate this question in French. First the question has been translated from English to French following the WHO method. The aim of the present study is to validate the French translation by comparing it with the AUDIT and the FACE. A questionnaire will be given to patients with inclusion criteria in general practitioners waiting rooms (15 different locations). This questionnaire will be composed of the single question, followed by the AUDIT and FACE, and three socio-demographic questions. The questionnaire will be anonymous.