Is it possible to evaluate addiction from clinical records? Testing a retrospective addiction severity evaluation measure.

AIM: To compare an addiction severity score estimated from clinical records to addiction severity index (ASI) scores. METHODS: During April-May 2004, 31 patients treated in a therapeutic community in the Piedmont region (Italy) were interviewed using the ASI questionnaire and their clinical records were used to obtain severity scores in seven areas: physical health, occupational functioning, alcohol use, drug use, legal problems, family/social relationships, psychological health. Correlation, agreement, and discriminatory capacity of the clinical records score in correctly classifying persons with low or high severity were investigated using Spearman, Kappa coefficient, and receiver operating characteristics curves. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical records score showed good correlation, agreement, and discriminatory accuracy with respect to ASI scores, especially in the drug use and legal problems areas. Further research is suggested to study the use of the score in other settings.