Hungarian adaptation of the European Addiction Severity Index

Abstract

The Council of the Professional Federation of Drug Treatment Centres was established in Hungary in 1997. Within the frame of a multi‐stage quality‐development programme for drug‐treatment centres, the Council attempted a Hungarian adaptation of the European version (EuropASI) of the widely used Addiction Severity Index (ASI). The empirical background for our research were the data obtained from ASI ratings for 266 alcohol‐ and drug‐using patients presenting for treatment in addiction medicine clinics operating in different regions of the country. The reliability indicators for measurement tool rating (inter‐rater) and time (test‐retest) are high, with the exception of the correlation value for employment and support. The internal consistency of the test is good. The extent of links between the individual items does not exceed that found internationally. The psychometric results correspond to the results obtained in international investigations. The Hungarian version of the ASI can be regarded as a useful and reliable measuring tool, which can be used to identify the problems of patients with addiction and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment. Therefore, we started to develop a Hungarian Drug Evaluation Network System (HUDENS) with 12 drug outpatient clinics on the basis of the American DENS. The first step to build up such a system was the validated ASI implementation in clinical practice. Our common database system is facing a country‐wide extension.