Assessment of alcoholic patients: advances and future challenges.

Abstract

Noteworthy advances have been made in methods of assessing patients suffering alcohol problems. More than one hundred measures are now available to assist clinicians and researchers in screening for such problems, diagnosing them, and developing treatment plans individualized according to relevant patient characteristics. This chapter reviews progress in assessment supporting each of these activities and suggests directions for future research. It concludes by identifying a series of research issues that cut across multiple domains of alcohol assessment.