The FAST in screening for at-risk drinking among middle-aged women

Abstract

Objective: There is a need for brief methods to screen for at-risk drinking. The FAST is a two-stepped structured questionnaire. In the FAST-1, one question categorizes into three groups: low-risk drinking, potential at-risk drinking or at-risk drinking. In the FAST-2, those with potential at-risk drinking are asked three additional questions. The aim was to study its effectiveness in screening for at-risk drinking among women and to define an optimal cut-off score. Method: The FAST was validated against the Timeline Followback (TLFB) utilizing data from a health check of a group of 40-year old women (response rate 69.2%; n = 907/1311). The TLFB-based definition of at-risk drinking was consuming >= 140 grams of alcohol weekly (6.1% reported at-risk drinking). Results and conclusions: Of all women, 54.5% could be correctly classified either as having low-risk or at-risk drinking with the FAST-1. The optimal cut-off score was >= 2 (sensitivity 0.82, specificity 0.86) which is lower than has previously been reported. Only those with a FAST-1 score of one needed further evaluation with the FAST-2. A FAST-2 score of >= 1 resulted in a positive screen for at-risk drinking. The FAST seems to be a valid and feasible method in screening for at-risk drinking among middle-aged women.