TY - JOUR
T1 - A systematic review of alcohol screening and assessment measures for young people: A study protocol
AU - Toner, Paul
AU - Boehnke, Jan
AU - McCambridge, Jim
N1 - © 2017, The Author(s).
PY - 2017/6/6
Y1 - 2017/6/6
N2 - Introduction Alcohol consumption creates a significant
public health burden, and young people who drink alcohol
place themselves at risk of harm. Expert guidance and
reviews have highlighted the pressing need for reliable and
valid, age-appropriate alcohol screening and assessment
measures for young people. The proposed systematic
review will evaluate existing alcohol screening and
assessment measures for young people aged 24 and
under.
Methods and analysis Six electronic databases will be
searched for published and grey literature. In addition,
reverse and forward citation searching and consultation
with experts will be performed. Three sets of search terms
will be combined, including alcohol use/problems, young
people and validation studies. The titles and abstracts
of reports from the searches will be screened, and
potentially relevant full-text reports will be retrieved and
independently assessed for inclusion by two reviewers
based on prespecified criteria. Discrete validation
studies within included reports will then be assessed for
eligibility. There will be an a priori basic quality threshold
for predictive validity, internal and test–retest for studies
to warrant full data extraction. Studies above the quality
threshold will be assessed for quality using the modified
consensus-based standards for the selection of health
measurement instruments checklist and a quality
assessment tool for diagnostic accuracy studies.
Dissemination This review will highlight the best
performing measures both for screening and assessment
based on their psychometric properties and the quality
of the validation studies supporting their use. Providing
clear guidance on which existing measures perform best
to screen and assess alcohol use and problems in young
people will inform policy, practice and decision-making,
and clarify the need for further research.
AB - Introduction Alcohol consumption creates a significant
public health burden, and young people who drink alcohol
place themselves at risk of harm. Expert guidance and
reviews have highlighted the pressing need for reliable and
valid, age-appropriate alcohol screening and assessment
measures for young people. The proposed systematic
review will evaluate existing alcohol screening and
assessment measures for young people aged 24 and
under.
Methods and analysis Six electronic databases will be
searched for published and grey literature. In addition,
reverse and forward citation searching and consultation
with experts will be performed. Three sets of search terms
will be combined, including alcohol use/problems, young
people and validation studies. The titles and abstracts
of reports from the searches will be screened, and
potentially relevant full-text reports will be retrieved and
independently assessed for inclusion by two reviewers
based on prespecified criteria. Discrete validation
studies within included reports will then be assessed for
eligibility. There will be an a priori basic quality threshold
for predictive validity, internal and test–retest for studies
to warrant full data extraction. Studies above the quality
threshold will be assessed for quality using the modified
consensus-based standards for the selection of health
measurement instruments checklist and a quality
assessment tool for diagnostic accuracy studies.
Dissemination This review will highlight the best
performing measures both for screening and assessment
based on their psychometric properties and the quality
of the validation studies supporting their use. Providing
clear guidance on which existing measures perform best
to screen and assess alcohol use and problems in young
people will inform policy, practice and decision-making,
and clarify the need for further research.
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016406
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016406
M3 - Article
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
SN - 2044-6055
M1 - e016406
ER -