Aim : Alcohol abuse and dependence is an important public health con-cern in most countries. It is also a big problem among the hospitalized patients.
Method : This study was undertaken to determine the number of the patients with alcohol related problems in a general hospital sample, to compare the prevalence rate among clinics, to determine the sen-sitivity and specificity of MAST (Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test) for an inpatient sample. The data were collected from 13 inpatient clinics of Ankara Numune Research and Training Hospital.
Result : A sample of 800 patients was enrolled in the study. 60 patients were (%7,5) diagnosed alcohol addiction and 11 were (%1,4) diagnosed as alcohol abuse. Alcohol addiction was most common in gastroenter-ology clinic. MAST sensitivity and specificity were found 0,74 and 0,98 respectively.
Conclusion: MAST might be a useful instrument for screening alcohol related problems in a general hospital setting.
