Abstract
The CAGE is a four item questionnaire which is used to help clinicians identify alcohol problems. Charts of 433 primary care patients who were given a medical health form containing the CAGE questions (experimental patients) were compared with charts of 451 patients given a similar form that did not contain the CAGE questions (control patients). Alcohol problems were detected more frequently in the experimental patients (10.6%) than in the control patients (6.7%) (p<0.05). This difference in detection tended to be most evident for persons with milder alcohol problems (problem drinking) as opposed to more well developed alcohol abuse. Experimental patients (3.7%) also tended to be more likely than control patients (2.9%) to receive active alcohol treatment during their initial medical visit. Medical health screening forms which include the CAGE questions may promote the identification of alcohol problems in primary care.
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Mark Olfson is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Robert L. Braham is Associate Professor of Medicine, both at the Cornell University Medical College.
This research project was supported by a Reader's Digest Research Psychiatrist Fellowship to Dr. Olfson.
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Olfson, M., Braham, R.L. The detection of alcohol problems in a primary care clinic. J Community Health 17, 323–331 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323995
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323995