Alcohol misuse plays a role in up to 1 in 20 deaths worldwide. It costs countries billions of dollars, and places a burden on countless families, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Nearly every healthcare provider will encounter alcohol use disorders that are directly or indirectly impacting the health of their patients, making it essential to have a tool for identifying alcohol dependency as part of diagnosis and treatment planning.
The AUDIT is the world’s most widely used alcohol screening tool. It was developed in 1989 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess three domains related to alcohol use:
1. Alcohol intake
2. Potential dependence on alcohol
3. Experience of alcohol-related harm
The tool contains only 10 items and takes about 2 minutes, making it ideal to quickly screen for alcohol-related problems.
Substance use is intertwined with cognition—multiple factors, such as drug effects, withdrawal effects, and probability of relapse, are all linked with cognitive capacity. Alcohol abuse in particular can destroy brain health. Alcohol-related dementia (ARD) and Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) are two examples of cognitive impairment resulting from the misuse of alcohol, with symptoms including deficits in visuospatial function, memory, and executive function (see Ridley, Draper, & Withall, 2013).
Measuring cognitive deficits using tools like Creyos Health’s neuropsychological tasks can complement the AUDIT and other information when diagnosing alcohol-related disorders. Abstinence, as well as certain supplements and medications, have been shown to lead to at least partial recovery in cognitive function, so ongoing cognitive assessments may assist in promoting and maintaining the positive effects of treatments for alcohol-related disorders, or act as an early warning sign about deterioration or relapse. An improvement in cognitive test scores after abstinence from alcohol may also assist in differentiating alcohol-related dementia from other neurodegenerative conditions.
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