Table 2

Diagnostic accuracy of self-reported alcohol consumption compared with reference police breathalyser

Threshold of self-reported alcohol consumption (UK units)Total participantsCorrectly positive by reference standardCorrectly negative by reference standardSensitivity (%)Specificity (%)
120738/389/169100.0 (90.8 to 100.0)5.3 (2.8 to 9.8)
220738/3823/169100.0 (90.8 to 100.0)13.6 (9.2 to 19.6)
320738/3852/169100.0 (90.8 to 100.0)30.8 (24.3 to 38.1)
420738/3871/169100.0 (90.8 to 100.0)42.0 (34.8 to 49.5)
520737/3884/16997.4 (86.5 to 99.5)49.7 (42.3 to 57.2)
620735/38105/16992.1 (79.2 to 97.3)62.1 (54.6 to 69.1)
720734/38117/16989.5 (75.9 to 95.8)69.2 (61.9 to 75.7)
820729/38130/16976.3 (60.8 to 87.0)76.9 (70.0 to 82.6)
920726/38142/16968.4 (52.5 to 80.9)84.0 (77.7 to 88.8)
1020720/38148/16952.6 (37.3 to 67.5)87.6 (81.8 to 91.7)
  • 1 UK unit is equivalent to 10 mL or 8 g alcohol (total 207 participants due to missing data on alcohol consumption for 1 participant). 95% CIs are shown in parentheses.