ACCURACY OF ALCOHOL DIAGNOSIS AMONG DWI OFFENDERS REFERRED FOR SCREENING

Convicted driving while impaired (DWI) offenders are often evaluated for substance abuse problems in court-ordered screening programs. Although self-report information is typically used to determine the need for treatment, little is known about the accuracy of self-reports of alcohol use problems in this population. To investigate the accuracy of offender alcohol diagnoses at screening, this study compares Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edition-revised) alcohol abuse and dependence diagnoses from an initial, court-ordered screening evaluation of 583 female and 495 male convicted DWI offenders with diagnoses and other self-reported information from a voluntary, non-coerced interview 5 years after the screening referral. Results showed that 16.8% of offenders were diagnosed with alcohol abuse and 20.1% with alcohol dependence at the initial screening. At the 5-year interview, 19.9% received a retrospective diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 60.1% received a retrospective diagnosis of alcohol dependence at the age at which they were screened. Significantly fewer of those with a retrospective alcohol diagnosis reported that their alcohol use self-reports at screening were very accurate compared to those with no retrospective diagnosis. These results suggest that underreporting is common even though many DWI offenders undergoing screening have diagnosable alcohol-related problems. This underreporting leads to inaccurate diagnosis and a missed opportunity for treatment.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03768716
• Corporate Authors:

  Elsevier

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  Kidlington, Oxford  United Kingdom  OX5 1GB
• Authors:
  • Lapham, S C
  • de Baca, J C
  • McMillan, G
  • Hunt, W C
• Publication Date: 2004-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 135-141
• Serial:
  • Drug and Alcohol Dependence
  • Volume: 76
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0376-8716
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03768716

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol abuse; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Drunk drivers; Interviewing; Offenders
• Uncontrolled Terms: Diagnoses; Screening programs; Self-reports
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00989074
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 12 2005 12:00AM