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HPSSC Staff Nurse - 2021
Psychiatric Nursing
Easy

CAGE questionnaire is used for which of the following behavioral disorders?

Appeared in: HPSSC Staff Nurse - 2021

Explanation

  • The CAGE questionnaire is a specific screening tool for identifying significant alcohol problems.
  • It is a mnemonic for four key questions: Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, and Eye-opener.
  • A score of 2 or more 'yes' answers strongly suggests a significant alcohol problem, warranting further clinical investigation.
  • It is designed for its brevity and ease of use in various clinical settings, including primary care.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

  • Option B: The CAGE questionnaire is not designed for heroin screening. Its questions are specific to drinking behaviors.
  • Option C: Similar to heroin, the standard CAGE tool is not intended for screening general opioid use. The language is alcohol-centric.
  • Option D: Naloxone is a medication (an opioid antagonist) used to reverse opioid overdose. It is not a substance of abuse and therefore does not have a screening questionnaire.

Related Visual

Visual explanation — Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
  • Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Application of screening tools for substance use disorders as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
  • A positive CAGE screen is a critical cue for the nurse to initiate a brief intervention (advice to reduce or abstain) and conduct a more comprehensive assessment using tools like the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).
  • Early identification of at-risk drinking allows for timely intervention, patient education, and referral to treatment, potentially preventing the progression to severe alcohol use disorder and its associated medical complications (e.g., liver disease, pancreatitis).
  • What if? If a patient scores 1 on the CAGE questionnaire, it does not rule out a problem. The nurse should still consider this a 'red flag' that warrants a conversation about the patient's drinking patterns and associated risks, as it indicates some level of concern from the patient themselves.
How to Approach the Question
  • First, identify the core subject of the question, which is the 'CAGE questionnaire'.
  • Recognize this as a factual recall question that tests your knowledge of a specific clinical screening tool.
  • Recall the mnemonic 'CAGE' and what each letter stands for (Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener). Notice that the language is centered around 'drinking'.
  • Evaluate each option against this knowledge. 'Alcohol screening' directly matches the purpose of the tool.
  • Eliminate the other options by identifying them as different categories: 'Heroin' and 'Opioid' are other substances requiring different tools, and 'Naloxone' is a medication, not a disorder.
Concept Tested & Keywords
  • Concept Tested: Application of screening tools for substance use disorders.
  • Stem keywords: CAGE questionnaire, behavioral disorders
  • Lead-in keywords: used for which

Question ID

QYO1mNeJtB5O68CLe-y0vu

Reference Book

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 3618-3620, 3619-3621

E6 Pharmacology Nursing Lilley 11e Part 1 p. 304-306

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