[Diagnosis of alcoholism. The Munich Alcoholism test (MALT) (author's transl)]

Abstract

From the extensive literature on alcoholism 250 relevant diagnostic items were selected and tested for their selectivity in 3 independent inquiries among 1335 patients (661 of them alcoholic), both outpatients and inpatients. The outcome is a two-part test: a section of 7 questions answered by the doctor and a self-assessment section comprising 24 questions answered by the patient. Its validity (validity of the whole test r=0.85) and reliability (reliability of the self-assessment section r=0.94) are high. A diagnosis of alcoholism made according to the usual clinical aspects was confirmed in 90% of 675 unselected medical, surgical and psychiatric patients and alcoholism was suspected in a further 8%.