Turkish Validity and Reliability of the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test

Abstract

The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of which validity and reliability is shown in several populations and in many languages. The objective of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the ASSIST. In the study, which is performed with 200 participants, following the signing of the contract with WHO for translation of ASSIST and related manual, Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT) and ASSIST Turkish Form are applied. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients are calculated to determine the reliability of the scale. For construct validity explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses are performed. To determine concurrent validity, Pearson product moment correlation coefficients are calculated between related ASSIST subscales and AUDIT, DUDIT and Fagerström Nicotine Dependence Test. ROC analysis has been performed to define specificity and sensitivity values. Adequate reliability coefficients were obtained for ASSIST subscales for alcohol (alpha=0.71), cannabis (alpha=0.79), cocaine (alpha=0.81), amphetamine type stimulants (alpha=0.93), opioids (alpha=0.91), other (alpha=0.93). Significant correlations were found with the AUDIT (r=0.795) and alcohol subscale as well as ASSIST total points (except tobacco and alcohol-Q2-Q7) and DUDIT (r=0.719).The best balance of specificity and sensitivity of alcohol subscale (80% and 83%, respectively) was found with a cutoff score of 9.5. The specificity and sensitivity values for 11, which is the original cutoff score, are 72.3% and 74.5% respectively. ASSIST is a valid screening instrument to identify at-risk cases due to substance use in this population.