Problem drinking profiles of patients presenting to general practitioners: analysis of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores for the Auckland area.

AIM To quantify the prevalence and demography of at-risk and problematic drinkers in the population attending a random selection of general practices and to compare this with similar studies. METHOD A study examining the uptake and utilisation of the "DRINKLESS" package to 369 New Zealand general practitioners was conducted during 1995/6. The "DRINKLESS" package was developed with the World Health Organisation collaborative study for brief intervention for at-risk alcohol consumption. The package uses the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). There were 15,670 completed AUDIT questionnaires collected during the study. These were analysed to ascertain the prevalence and demography of at-risk and problematic drinkers attending general practitioners. RESULTS There were 16% of patients identified as having either "risky drinking" or "problematic or dependent drinking". This pattern varied according to the occupation, age and gender of patients. CONCLUSIONS The data confirm that large numbers of patients presenting to general practitioners experience alcohol problems of varying degrees. This study also suggests that the AUDIT will have satisfactory detection rates in a primary care setting.