ArticleAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)2023
Quantifying Alcohol Consumption in the General Population by Analysing Phosphatidylethanol Concentrations in Whole Blood: Results from 24,574 Subjects Included in the HUNT4 Study.
Article in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Implementing pragmatic case finding to address alcohol use in general practice: a mixed methods feasibility study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Trial
- Phosphatidylethanol as an outcome measure in treatment aimed at controlled drinking.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Trial
- Identifying Hazardous Alcohol Use in Primary Care: Concordance Between Phosphatidylethanol and Self-Reports.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Reference values for the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in the Belgian population: Insights from a nationwide microsampling study.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Risk assessment in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and metabolic dysfunction and alcohol-related liver disease: current approaches and future directions.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Review
- Self-collected dried blood spots for phosphatidylethanol assessment in virtual trials: Feasibility and concordance with self-reported alcohol use among men at high HIV risk.Research square · 2026Article
- The neurobiological cravings signature (NCS) as a predictive neuromarker of clinical outcomes in alcohol use disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Exploring Phosphatidylethanol Cutoffs for Self-Reported Unhealthy Alcohol Use: An International Multi-Site Analysis.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Subjective Memory Impairment in the General Adult Population: Associations With Early-Life Cognition, Concurrent Objective Memory, Dementia Risk Factors.European journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Usefulness of Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase and Sequential Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin for Unhealthy Alcohol Use Screening in Indigenous Communities.The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences · 2026Article
- PEth Cut-Off Thresholds for Hazardous Alcohol Consumption Based on a Drinking Study.Drug testing and analysis · 2026Article
- Hypertension and alcohol: a cross-sectional study comparing PEth with AUDIT and AUDIT-C in primary care.Family practice · 2025Observational
- Clinical trial design, biomarkers and end points in metabolic and alcohol-related liver disease.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Review
- Impact of Sex, Age, Body Composition and Kidney Function on the Relationship Between Self-Reported Alcohol Consumption and Phosphatidylethanol-Data From the HUNT Study.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Article
- Identifying hazardous alcohol use in primary care using phosphatidylethanol: Timing of screening matters.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2025Observational
- Article
- Assessing alcohol consumption across phosphatidylethanol levels using HDL-cholesterol as a predictor.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Article
- AUDIT C compared to PEth in middle-aged volunteers.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Article
- Relationship between alcohol intake based on daily smartphone-reported consumption and PEth concentrations in healthy volunteers.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Article
- Identifying excessive chronic alcohol use with phosphatidylethanol in patients with suspected severe injury-results from the IDART study.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo evaluate the association between self-reported alcohol consumption and phosphatidylethanol (PEth) concentrations in blood in a large general population study, and discuss optimal cut-off PEth concentrations for defined levels of alcohol consumption.
methodsPopulation based, longitudinal cohort study including 24,574 adults from The Trøndelag Health Study 4 (HUNT4) conducted in Trøndelag County, Norway. Data included PEth concentration, self-reported alcohol consumption and CAGE score.
resultsPEth levels in whole blood increased with the number of alcohol units consumed, the frequency of alcohol consumption, the frequency of binge drinking and the CAGE score (lifetime, i.e. 'have you ever'). The cut-off concentrations with highest combined sensitivity and specificity were 0.057 μmol/l (40 ng/ml) for identification of those consuming >1 alcohol unit per day (sensitivity 86%, specificity 76%), 0.087 μmol/l (61 ng/ml) for consuming >2 units per day (sensitivity 87%, specificity 81%) and 0.122 μmol/l (86 ng/ml) for consuming >3 alcohol units per day (sensitivity 80%, specificity 86%). By defining a CAGE score ≥ 2 as potentially harmful consumption, a cut-off of 0.100 μmol/l (70 ng/ml) identified 52% of all those subjects.
conclusionsCut-off limits of PEth concentrations should take into account the indication for sampling. Using cut-offs for the PEth concentrations of about 0.05 μmol/l (35 ng/ml) and 0.08 μmol/l (56 ng/ml) would identify about 90% of the subjects consuming more than 1 and 2 alcohol units per day, respectively. Concentrations above these cut-offs should lead to a more detailed interview related to alcohol use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.