Finally, in order to recommend a change in the current DSM-IV criteria we still need to consider the overall impact that this change may have in the performance of the full criteria, especially the impact in sensitivity and specificity. How the choice of a particular measure of alcohol consumption affects the total prevalence of alcohol use disorders when added to the current 11 criteria is a matter of great relevance, but goes beyond the scope of the present analyses. This change may have implications/ramifications across cultures since different cultures have very different drinking patterns. Even more, when applied to different cultures Q-F measures also need to consider other dimensions such as drinking context and duration of drinking. These issues were not discussed in this paper, as they go beyond the scope of any EFA and IRT framework and merit a separate analysis. From the differential item functioning of some measures of heavy drinking (such as any 5+/4+ for men/women or monthly drunkenness/any for men/women) it is clear that the choice of the alcohol consumption measure can have dramatic influences on
