Hematological concomitants of alcoholism: development and validation of a clinical screening technique.

An investigation into the use of blood chemistry variables in the identification of young adult alcoholics revealed that a combinative process utilizing 11 blood chemistry variables was superior to the use of individual measures. The investigation further validated the use of a linear discriminant analysis technique in identifying the blood chemistry measures and a discriminant function was produced that classified alcoholics and controls with a high degree of accuracy. This level of precision in prediction was maintained in validation trials on independent samples. The blood chemistry variables were extracted from a combination of commonly ordered blood tests. Results of the investigation indicate that clinical usage of the screening procedure is readily available without sophisticated computer support or exotic blood analysis.