Screening For Alcoholism in Community Dwelling Elderly

This project will develop and pilot test a structured interview and self-administered questionnaireto screen elderly community-dwelling persons at risk for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. Theinstrument will distinguish among older individuals with differing functional levels and demographiccharacteristics, will take 10 minutes to administer, and will be suitable for use in managed care andfee-for-service settings. The offeror will 1) review the literature to (a) identify current knowledgeregarding the early identification of alcohol problems in the general population and in specific, in theelderly and (b) to identify specific measures and items that might be incorporated into a screeninginstrument for the elderly and at the same time, uncover areas for which new items will need to bedeveloped; 2) convene a panel of experts in alcoholism, substance abuse, geriatric medicine, andpsychometrics to analyze the findings of the literature review, decide on the content of the instrument,plan on and interpret the psychometric data obtained in the pilot test, and discuss issues and methodsfor resolving them should they receive support for Phase II -- an experimental validation of theinstrument; 3) develop a brief, easy-to-use screening instrument in the form of a structured interviewthat can be used easily by health professionals including physicians, nurses, social workers, and othermembers of the health care team and their trained assistants; 4) develop a brief self-administeredquestionnaire based on the structured interview that is a valid alternative to the structured interview;and 5) pilot test the structured interview and the self-administered questionnaire.