• Funding: NIAAA P50 AA005595
• Principal Investigator: Thomas Greenfield, Cheryl Cherpitel, Component Director; sub-project leaders Greenfield, Cherpitel and Madhabika Nayak

Description

This component continues Center research to improve precision of alcohol measurement, make innovations in research design and measures for clinical populations.  To accomplish this we are undertaking three new methodological sub-studies.  One sub-study (Dr. Greenfield) harnesses data from the NAS Core’s Cell-phone and Landline samples. The cell-only population is projected to comprise 30% of the U.S. population by 2015, so that reaching individuals in such households is crucial to securing nationally representative samples. Results will inform the alcohol field and optimize future national surveys.  Addressing NIAAA priorities of research on special populations, the second sub-study (Dr. Cherpitel) analyzes biases from case-crossover studies on the relative risk of injury and alcohol and alcohol-attributable fraction in cross-national emergency room studies.  It applies new and innovative methods towards AAF estimation and modifications that have not previously explored cross-nationally.  Findings will improve research design and have domestic and international impact on global burden of disease estimates.  The third sub-study (Dr. Nayak) examines variability in item functioning of the AUDIT, a widely used alcohol use disorder screening tool; it addresses the NIAAA research priority of better understanding differential reliability and validity of AUD diagnoses among demographic, ethnic, and cultural subgroups, and it investigates influences of drinking culture and gender inequity on screening to mitigate biases in the scale.  Findings will inform clinical and research guidelines for important subgroups.