Turkish validity and reliability of the alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test

Turkish Validity and Reliability of The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test AIM:The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be used worldwide, has been used successfully in many countries. Whereas there are several studies showing its validity and reliability in several populations and in many languages, its Turkish validity has not been studied yet in any settings. The objective of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the ASSIST version 3.1, which is advised to be used for people who committed crime related to substance use as well as in primary care settings, in probationers. METHOD: This was an epidemiological analytical study. The sample has been chosen by random sampling method within people who are under probation order due to Turkish Criminal Law Article 191. The study, which is performed with 200 participants who are aged 18-55 years and whose age average is 27.51(±7.01), who are mainly men(98%) and single (73%), following the signing of the contract with WHO for translation of ASSIST and related manual first, is performed after written permission taken from General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses within the dates September 2017 and December 2017 in Yalova and İzmir Probation Branches. During face to face individual interviews within probation services, the aim of the study is told to individuals and Informed Consent Form is given to individuals who accept to participate. Then, Personal Information Form, 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. FINDINGS: 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 the 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 the 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. RESULT: ASSIST is a valid screening instrument to identify at-risk cases due to substance use in this population.