One successful application of GWAS has been their use for assigning polygenic risk scores (PRS), which provide estimates of an individual’s genetic risk of developing a given disorder. Reassuringly, PRS for alcohol use behaviors predict equivalent phenotypes in independent cohorts [e.g. alcohol consumption (53), AD (12), AUD symptoms (54)]. Johnson et al (2019) recently identified that, compared to PRS for alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C), PRS for alcohol misuse (AUDIT-P) were superior predictors of a range of alcohol-related phenotypes, particularly those pertaining to the domains of misuse and dependence. These findings further illustrate that alcohol consumption alone may not be a good proxy for AUD.
