The DSM-5 defined alcohol use disorder (AUD) to better cover undiagnosed subthreshold alcohol users, but few studies have investigated this topic. This study aimed to test whether subthreshold problem drinkers were a distinct subgroup of undiagnosed drinkers according to the DSM-5 AUD classification by investigating drinking patterns and longitudinal trajectories.
Data were collected in the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors from young Swiss men in their early twenties (n = 4,630) at two time points. Participants responded to the 11 criteria of the DSM-5 AUD and to variables related to drinking patterns.
Among drinkers, 23.2% and 23.5% of the participants were subthreshold problem drinkers at baseline and follow-up, respectively. The trends showed that 29.4% of them remained subthreshold problem drinkers over time. Those who remained subthreshold problem drinkers or progressed to AUD status were likely to meet the same criterion/add a new one. Subthreshold problem drinkers showed concurrent and later drinking patterns that were in between those of symptom-free drinkers and AUD drinkers.
Subthreshold problem drinkers were an important subgroup of drinkers with risky drinking patterns, but they did not necessarily progress to later AUD status and did not appear to be a consistent subgroup over time.
Subthreshold problem drinkers did not seem to be a subgroup of undiagnosed problem drinkers in the current DSM-5 classification. The results showed that AUD appeared to be a dimensional construct, in which one additional criterion was associated with worse alcohol-related outcomes. (Am J Addict 2016;25:408-415).