Screening for alcohol misuse within people attending a psychiatric intellectual disability community service.
One in five adults with ID in psychiatric care screen positive for alcohol misuse—use CAGE or AUDIT routinely.
01Research in Context
What this study did
A UK community team asked the adults with intellectual disability about drinking.
They used two quick screens: CAGE and AUDIT.
All clients were already getting psychiatric care.
What they found
One in five scored positive for alcohol misuse.
Most of these also had another mental illness.
The team had not spotted the drinking before.
How this fits with other research
A 2025 Danish study shows adults with ID get type 2 diabetes at twice the rate of others.
Together the papers paint the same picture: hidden metabolic and addiction risks.
Lin et al. (2007) found a large share of institutionalized adults with ID rack up >25 clinic visits a year.
That heavy use matches V et al.’s finding: when we miss alcohol problems, crisis care fills the gap.
Why it matters
Add a one-minute CAGE or AUDIT to every annual visit.
If the client scores high, link to brief counseling or meds.
Catching alcohol misuse early can cut crisis visits and protect both liver and mood.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There is some evidence that people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) living in the community are exposed to the same risks of alcohol use as the rest of the population. The aims of this project were to investigate the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in patients with ID known to a psychiatric community specialist team, and to explore appropriate screening tools and any relationship between alcohol use disorders and mental health co-morbidities. METHOD: A random sample of 40 patients was recruited and interviewed using CAGE and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to assess alcohol use. Information on physical and mental health was also collected. RESULTS: One in five patients was positive on CAGE (20%) and AUDIT (22.5%). Significantly more of those had a history of mental illness compared with those who were negative. Thirty per cent of the total sample had been diagnosed with at least one health condition, which clinical notes failed to report. In addition two out of three of those positive on CAGE or AUDIT were smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that alcohol use disorders seem to be a hidden problem within the ID population, existing alongside multiple physical and mental health needs.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12168