Much has been learnt in recent years about the epidemiology of this disease across the USA from the NESARC, a study that was conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in a nationally representative sample of 43,093 adults in two waves, from 2001 to 2002 and 2004 to 2005 [2]. Studies using NESARC data have shown that the prevalence of lifetime DSM-IV [4] alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse (together called AUD) is 12.5% and 17.8% respectively [11]. AUD is twice as common in men as in women. However, the diagnostic criteria have recently been revised and it remains to be seen whether these changes will alter the proportions of individuals qualifying for a diagnosis. The DSM-5 [3] merges three of the four former alcohol abuse criteria (excluding alcohol-related legal problems that rarely occur in the community) with the former seven dependence criteria, adds craving as an additional criterion and creates one diagnosis: AUD. An individual experiencing at least 2 of these 11 criteria within 12 months qualifies for this diagnosis that is further coded by a severity scale.
