The use of a self-administered alcoholism screening test (SAAST) in a medical center.

A self-administered alcoholism screening questionnaire was given routinely to 100 patients admitted to an alcoholism treatment unit as well as to 100 randomly selected patients in a medical population. The questionnaire differentiated the alcoholic group from the general medical group of patients. It was also successful in identifying the "hidden alcoholic" in the general medical population. It is concluded that this device would be a valuable part of a general medical screening questionnaire to detect the presence of alcoholism in the general medical-surgical patients.