Test instruments can assist in the identification of alcohol abuse and dependence. The CAGE Questions, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, and the Addiction Severity Index are examples of these test instruments (Smeltzer, 2000). Blood and urine tests are used to determine substances present ("CourtCase," 2000).
Heredity is considered a factor in substance-use disorders, which is evident more with alcoholism than other substances. It has been estimated that alcoholism may be found in first-degree relatives of alcoholics in 50 percent of cases. Studies of monozygotic twins have shown that there is a two-times greater rate for alcoholism concordance as compared to dizygotic twins. Males with alcoholic fathers are four times
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