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Validity of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) for the Detection of Alcohol-Related Problems Among Male Geriatric Outpatients

Received July 8, 1999; revised November 2, 1999; accepted February 2, 2000. From the Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. Address correspondence to Dr. Edson S. Hirata, Projeto Terceira Idade do Instituto de Psiquiatria do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos S/N, Cerqueira César, São Paulo/SP, Cx Postal 3671, CEP 05403-010, São Paulo/SP, BRAZIL.

Alcoholism is a frequent and underdiagnosed mental health problem of later life. Its detection often relies on the use of screening instruments such as the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). The authors investigated the properties of the scale in a sample of 122 older adults recruited from a geriatric outpatient service in São Paulo, Brazil. Thirty-five subjects met criteria for the diagnosis of alcohol abuse or dependence according to DSM-III-R. The cutoff point 4/5 was associated with a sensitivity of 91.4%, specificity of 83.9%, and positive and negative predictive values of 69.6% and 96.0%, respectively. These results indicate that the MAST is a good screening test for the detection of alcohol abuse and dependence in an elderly male population and that the MAST should be used in combination with a questionnaire assessing the frequency/quantity of alcohol consumption to optimize the detection of cases and characterize their current drinking patterns.

Key Words: Alcoholism • Primary Care • Screening Tools

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