These findings underscore the potential dangers when clinicians rely on simple overall questions to identify individuals who might benefit from motivational interviewing or brief interventions to mitigate future alcohol problems (Schuckit, 2018b; Vasilaki et al., 2006). A more appropriate way to screen patients for alcohol impairment would be to use a standardized and more detailed review of patterns of drinking and alcohol-related problems such as the ten item AUDIT. This instrument takes only a few minutes complete and can be filled out by patients in the waiting room (Babor, 2001; Sanchez-Roige et al., 2019). Such standardized approaches might be especially useful for identifying high functioning individuals with AUDs whose SES might erroneously imply that they are less likely to have alcohol problems.
