Computerized Alcohol Screening for Children and Adolescents (cASCA)

Computerized Alcohol Screening for Children and Adolescents (cASCA) in Primary Care

The goal of this project is to develop a computerized screening program for primary care offices that is based on the NIAAA's Alcohol Screening Guide for Children and Adolescents and assess its psychometric properties among nine- to 18-yr-old primary care patients. There have been few studies of alcohol screening and brief intervention conducted among adolescents receiving primary medical care. This project will develop and validate a new computerized Alcohol Screening for Children and Adolescents (cASCA) system based on the two age-specific screening questions of the NIAAA Guide and includes the CRAFFT and AUDIT as secondary risk and problem assessments. The system will yield a provider report with the screening results, level of risk, and recommended brief advice, counseling, or referral strategies. The Specific Aims of this project are to: 1)Assess the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the 'any drinking/number of drinking days' and 'friends' questions of the cASCA in identifying past-year use as determined by the Timeline Follow-Back Calendar (TLFB), and for identifying any problem use, abuse or dependence as determined by the AUDIT, CRAFFT and a structured psychiatric diagnostic interview (computerized DISC-IV, Youth Version) at baseline (criterion validity); 2)Assess the test-retest reliability of the cASCA in measuring drinking frequency categories and in classifying patients into Low, Medium and High risk categories; 3)Assess the predictive validity of the 'any drinking/number of drinking days' and 'friends' questions in predicting drinking, "binge" drinking, and any problem use, abuse or dependence at 12-mos follow-up; 4)Assess the degree to which the 'any drinking/number of drinking days' item of the cASCA predicts drug use risk as measured by the TLFB (any use and frequency), tobacco use as measured by the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (screen for potential nicotine dependence), drug use disorders as measured by the Drug Abuse Screening Test for Adolescents, and the degree to which it predicts other mental health problems as measured by the Youth DISC Predictive Scales at baseline and 12-month follow-up; 5)Compare the psychometric properties of the cASCA across subgroups, including: age, gender, race/ethnicity, practice type, provider type, and patient risks (e.g., those with/without friends who drink); and explore the possible effects of the cASCA system on drinking at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Alcohol Related Disorders

• Study Type: Observational

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
      • Children's Hospital Boston

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 9 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Youth 9-18 years old

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• nine- to 18-years old
• arriving for non-emergent care
• have an email address and internet access
• provide informed assent/consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• unable to read or understand English
• living away at college at the time of the recruitment visit
• not available for computer/telephone follow-ups
• judged by the provider to be medically or emotionally unstable at time of visit.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Youth 9-18 years of age

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Specificity and sensitivity of cASCA	We will examine validity of the lifetime "any drinking" item by comparing participant responses on the c-ASCA to responses on the Brief Substance Use History (BSUH) questionnaire (lifetime use and age of initiation of use, if any).	Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Test-retest reliability of cASCA	We will calculate Cohen's kappas to evaluate 1-2 week test-retest agreement on c-ASCA responses	baseline
Validity of "number of drinking days" item in c-ASCA	For middle and high school-aged youth (12-18 yrs), we will examine validity of the c-ASCA past-year "number of drinking days" by computing the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) assessing agreement between the two continuous variables of total past-year number of days reported on c-ASCA and on the TLFB.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston Children's Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: John R Knight, MD, Boston Children's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Anticipated): September 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 22, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): February 28, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 7, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2016
• Last Verified: October 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Alcohol related disorders
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: JK_NIAAA_02-12

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO