Author
Thomas F. Babor
Other affiliations: Yale University, University of Connecticut Health Center, La Trobe University ...read more
Bio: Thomas F. Babor is an academic researcher from University of Connecticut. The author has contributed to research in topics: Poison control & Alcohol industry. The author has an hindex of 78, co-authored 406 publications receiving 49672 citations. Previous affiliations of Thomas F. Babor include Yale University & University of Connecticut Health Center.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: The AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study.
Abstract: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been developed from a six-country WHO collaborative project as a screening instrument for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. It is a 10-item questionnaire which covers the domains of alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour, and alcohol-related problems. Questions were selected from a 150-item assessment schedule (which was administered to 1888 persons attending representative primary health care facilities) on the basis of their representativeness for these conceptual domains and their perceived usefulness for intervention. Responses to each question are scored from 0 to 4, giving a maximum possible score of 40. Among those diagnosed as having hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 92% had an AUDIT score of 8 or more, and 94% of those with non-hazardous consumption had a score of less than 8. AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study.
11,042 citations
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: This manual introduces the AUDIT, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and describes how to use it to identify persons with hazardous and harmful patterns of alcohol consumption.
Abstract: This manual introduces the AUDIT, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and describes how to use it to identify persons with hazardous and harmful patterns of alcohol consumption.
6,150 citations
TL;DR: The new system, known as SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry), includes the 10th edition of the PSE as one of its core schedules, preliminary tests of which have suggested that reliability is similar to that of PSE-9.
Abstract: After more than 12 years of development, the ninth edition of the Present State Examination (PSE-9) was published, together with associated instruments and computer algorithm, in 1974. The system has now been expanded, in the framework of the World Health Organization/Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Joint Project on Standardization of Diagnosis and Classification, and is being tested with the aim of developing a comprehensive procedure for clinical examination that is also capable of generating many of the categories of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised third edition. The new system is known as SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry). It includes the 10th edition of the PSE as one of its core schedules, preliminary tests of which have suggested that reliability is similar to that of PSE-9. SCAN is being field tested in 20 centers in 11 countries. A final version is expected to be available in January 1990.
2,545 citations
TL;DR: The design and development of the CIDI is described and the current field testing of a slightly reduced "core" version is described, allowing investigators reliably to assess mental disorders according to the most widely accepted nomenclatures in many different populations and cultures.
Abstract: • The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), written at the request of the World Health Organization/US Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Task Force on Psychiatric Assessment Instruments, combines questions from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule with questions designed to elicit Present State Examination items. It is fully structured to allow administration by lay interviewers and scoring of diagnoses by computer. A special Substance Abuse Module covers tobacco, alcohol, and other drug abuse in considerable detail, allowing the assessment of the quality and severity of dependence and its course. This article describes the design and development of the CIDI and the current field testing of a slightly reduced "core" version. The field test is being conducted in 19 centers around the world to assess the interviews' reliability and its acceptability to clinicians and the general populace in different cultures and to provide data on which to base revisions that may be found necessary. In addition, questions to assess International Classification of Diseases , ninth revision, and the revised DSM-III diagnoses are being written. If all goes well, the CIDI will allow investigators reliably to assess mental disorders according to the most widely accepted nomenclatures in many different populations and cultures.
2,483 citations
Book•
25 Feb 2010
TL;DR: This book describes recent advances in alcohol research which have direct relevance for the development of effective alcohol policies at the local, national and international levels.
Abstract: From a public health perspective, alcohol is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality. This book describes recent advances in alcohol research which have direct relevance for the development of effective alcohol policies at the local, national and international levels. The central purpose of the book is to empower those responsible for public health and social welfare.
1,723 citations
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TL;DR: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders is greater than previously thought to be the case, and morbidity is more highly concentrated than previously recognized in roughly one sixth of the population who have a history of three or more comorbid disorders.
Abstract: Background: This study presents estimates of lifetime and 12-month prevalence of 14 DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders from the National Comorbidity Survey, the first survey to administer a structured psychiatric interview to a national probability sample in the United States. Methods: The DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders among persons aged 15 to 54 years in the noninstitutionalized civilian population of the United States were assessed with data collected by lay interviewers using a revised version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Results: Nearly 50% of respondents reported at least one lifetime disorder, and close to 30% reported at least one 12-month disorder. The most common disorders were major depressive episode, alcohol dependence, social phobia, and simple phobia. More than half of all lifetime disorders occurred in the 14% of the population who had a history of three or more comorbid disorders. These highly comorbid people also included the vast majority of people with severe disorders. Less than 40% of those with a lifetime disorder had ever received professional treatment, and less than 20% of those with a recent disorder had been in treatment during the past 12 months. Consistent with previous risk factor research, it was found that women had elevated rates of affective disorders and anxiety disorders, that men had elevated rates of substance use disorders and antisocial personality disorder, and that most disorders declined with age and with higher socioeconomic status. Conclusions: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders is greater than previously thought to be the case. Furthermore, this morbidity is more highly concentrated than previously recognized in roughly one sixth of the population who have a history of three or more comorbid disorders. This suggests that the causes and consequences of high comorbidity should be the focus of research attention. The majority of people with psychiatric disorders fail to obtain professional treatment. Even among people with a lifetime history of three or more comorbid disorders, the proportion who ever obtain specialty sector mental health treatment is less than 50%. These results argue for the importance of more outreach and more research on barriers to professional help-seeking.
11,648 citations
TL;DR: The AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study.
Abstract: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has been developed from a six-country WHO collaborative project as a screening instrument for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. It is a 10-item questionnaire which covers the domains of alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour, and alcohol-related problems. Questions were selected from a 150-item assessment schedule (which was administered to 1888 persons attending representative primary health care facilities) on the basis of their representativeness for these conceptual domains and their perceived usefulness for intervention. Responses to each question are scored from 0 to 4, giving a maximum possible score of 40. Among those diagnosed as having hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 92% had an AUDIT score of 8 or more, and 94% of those with non-hazardous consumption had a score of less than 8. AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study.
11,042 citations
TL;DR: Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of cases with high comorbidity, as shown in the recently completed US National Comorbidities Survey Replication.
Abstract: Background Little is known about the general population prevalence or severity of DSM-IV mental disorders. Objective To estimate 12-month prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, impulse control, and substance disorders in the recently completed US National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Design and Setting Nationally representative face-to-face household survey conducted between February 2001 and April 2003 using a fully structured diagnostic interview, the World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Participants Nine thousand two hundred eighty-two English-speaking respondents 18 years and older. Main Outcome Measures Twelve-month DSM-IV disorders. Results Twelve-month prevalence estimates were anxiety, 18.1%; mood, 9.5%; impulse control, 8.9%; substance, 3.8%; and any disorder, 26.2%. Of 12-month cases, 22.3% were classified as serious; 37.3%, moderate; and 40.4%, mild. Fifty-five percent carried only a single diagnosis; 22%, 2 diagnoses; and 23%, 3 or more diagnoses. Latent class analysis detected 7 multivariate disorder classes, including 3 highly comorbid classes representing 7% of the population. Conclusion Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of cases with high comorbidity.
10,951 citations
TL;DR: Progress in estimating age-at-onset distributions, cohort effects, and the conditional probabilities of PTSD from different types of trauma will require future epidemiologic studies to assess PTSD for all lifetime traumas rather than for only a small number of retrospectively reported "most serious" traumAs.
Abstract: Background: Data were obtained on the general population epidemiology of DSM-III-R posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including information on estimated lifetime prevalence, the kinds of traumas most often associated with PTSD, sociodemographic correlates, the comorbidity of PTSD with other lifetime psychiatric disorders, and the duration of an index episode. Methods: Modified versions of the DSM-III-R PTSD module from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview were administered to a representative national sample of 5877 persons aged 15 to 54 years in the part II subsample of the National Comorbidity Survey. Results: The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 7.8%. Prevalence is elevated among women and the previously married. The traumas most commonly associated with PTSD are combat exposure and witnessing among men and rape and sexual molestation among women. Posttraumatic stress disorder is strongly comorbid with other lifetime DSM-III-R disorders. Survival analysis shows that more than one third of people with an index episode of PTSD fail to recover even after many years. Conclusions: Posttraumatic stress disorder is more prevalent than previously believed, and is often persistent. Progress in estimating age-at-onset distributions, cohort effects, and the conditional probabilities of PTSD from different types of trauma will require future epidemiologic studies to assess PTSD for all lifetime traumas rather than for only a small number of retrospectively reported "most serious" traumas. (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995;52:1048-1060)
9,690 citations