PMID- 20513680
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20100913
LR  - 20170123
IS  - 1557-9700 (Electronic)
IS  - 1075-2730 (Linking)
VI  - 61
IP  - 6
DP  - 2010 Jun
TI  - Screening for alcohol misuse and alcohol-related behaviors among combat veterans.
PG  - 575-81
LID - 10.1176/ps.2010.61.6.575 [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVE: The U.S. military conducts health screenings of service members three 
      to six months after they return from combat deployments. This population health 
      program includes a modified version of the Two-Item Conjoint Screen (TICS), which 
      is widely used in primary care to screen for alcohol misuse. Rates of referral in 
      the military for alcohol treatment are very low, and the utility of these 
      screening questions in predicting serious alcohol-related behaviors is unknown. 
      METHODS: Anonymous surveys were collected from 6,527 U.S. Army soldiers who were 
      screened three to four months after returning from deployment to Iraq. Positive 
      responses on the TICS alcohol screen were correlated with alcohol-related 
      behaviors. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using logistic regression, after 
      adjusting for gender, rank, race, and military component (active or reserve). 
      RESULTS: Twenty-seven percent of soldiers screened positive for alcohol misuse. 
      Compared with soldiers who screened negative, those who screened positive were 
      more likely to have recently engaged in the following behaviors: drinking and 
      driving (OR=4.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]=4.31-5.76), riding with a driver 
      who had been drinking (OR=5.87, CI=4.99-6.91), reporting late or missing work 
      because of a hangover (OR=9.24, CI=6.73-12.68), using illicit drugs (OR=4.97, 
      CI=3.68-6.71), being referred to alcohol rehabilitation (OR=7.15, CI=4.84-10.58), 
      and being convicted of driving under the influence (OR=4.84, CI=3.04-7.67). 
      CONCLUSIONS: Positive responses to a two-item alcohol screening tool were 
      strongly associated with serious alcohol-related behaviors. This study highlights 
      the need to improve screening and access to care for alcohol-related problems 
      among service members returning from combat deployments.
FAU - Santiago, Patcho N
AU  - Santiago PN
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 
      4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD 20814, USA. psantiago@usuhs.mil
FAU - Wilk, Joshua E
AU  - Wilk JE
FAU - Milliken, Charles S
AU  - Milliken CS
FAU - Castro, Carl A
AU  - Castro CA
FAU - Engel, Charles C
AU  - Engel CC
FAU - Hoge, Charles W
AU  - Hoge CW
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Psychiatr Serv
JT  - Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.)
JID - 9502838
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Alcoholism/*diagnosis
MH  - Female
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Humans
MH  - Iraq War, 2003-2011
MH  - Male
MH  - *Mass Screening
MH  - Odds Ratio
MH  - United States
MH  - Veterans/*psychology
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2010/06/02 06:00
MHDA- 2010/09/14 06:00
CRDT- 2010/06/02 06:00
PHST- 2010/06/02 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/06/02 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2010/09/14 06:00 [medline]
AID - 61/6/575 [pii]
AID - 10.1176/ps.2010.61.6.575 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Psychiatr Serv. 2010 Jun;61(6):575-81. doi: 10.1176/ps.2010.61.6.575.