Garzotto N, Baratta S, Pistoso S, Faccincani C
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Italy.
Compr Psychiatry. 1988 May-Jun;29(3):323-9. doi: 10.1016/0010-440x(88)90055-7.
One hundred fifty subjects (75 index cases and 75 controls) completed the Italian version of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST). Using Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, the 5/6 cut-off point was found to be the best as for discriminating between "cases" and "non-cases" in terms of balance between sensitivity (96%) and specificity (89%). The positive predictive value, the negative predictive value, and the overall misclassification rate were 90%, 95%, and 7% respectively. Using item by item assessment of discriminating capacity, we developed a brief ten item Italian version (2/3 cut-off point). This discriminated between alcoholics and non-alcoholics as well as the longer version, and is thus superior in situations where a brief evaluation is necessary.
