Psychometric Properties of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: A Korean Version

• Published in: Archives of psychiatric nursing Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 190 - 199
• Main Authors: Kim, Sun S., Gulick, Elsie E., Nam, Kyoung A., Kim, Seong-Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2008; W.B. Saunders Company/JNL
• Subjects: Adult; Alcohol consumption; Alcohol related disorders; Alcohol use; Alcoholism - diagnosis; Alcoholism - epidemiology; Asian Americans; Clinical outcomes; Diagnostic tests; Female; Humans; Korea - epidemiology; Korean American people; Language; Male; Men; Prevalence; Psychometric properties; Psychometrics - methods; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Translations; Korea; United States > US
• ISSN: 0883-9417; 1532-8228
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apnu.2007.07.005

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is an important screening tool but has never been administered to Korean Americans. This study was conducted to examine the psychometric properties of a Korean version of the AUDIT referred to as AUDIT-K and to determine which cutoff score of the scale would perform better in Korean Americans. Translation and backtranslation of the AUDIT-K were conducted to obtain a measure consistent with the Korean cultural understanding of alcohol use. Following satisfactory interrater agreements on each item about its Korean translation, the AUDIT-K was administered to 118 Korean American men (Time 1) and to 93 of the men approximately 1 month later (Time 2). Data were analyzed for internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, and construct validity. Approximately 47.5% of Korean American men who participated in the study were identified as having drinking problems when using the World Health Organization's recommended cutoff score of 8, whereas approximately 20.3% were found to have problems with alcohol when using the cutoff score of 12, the one recommended for Koreans. Cronbach's alpha was .82 at Time 1 and was .80 at Time 2. Test–Retest reliability assessed via the intraclass correlation coefficient for the total AUDIT scale was .85. Principal components factor analysis with varimax orthogonal rotation revealed a two-factor solution, alcohol consumption and drinking problems, resulting in 57% of the explained variance. The AUDIT-K was found to be internally consistent and stable over time and should be used in primary health care settings to screen Korean American men for alcohol use disorders to facilitate early interventions.