The Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) as screening test for benzodiazepine dependence: SDS validation study

Aims: To assess the validity of the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS) as a screening test to detect benzodiazepine dependence in regular benzodiazepine users. Method: One hundred regular benzodiazepine users, recruited from neurotic benzodiazepine users attending the Mental Health Outpatient Services of the Canary Islands Health Service, were administered the SDS and responses were compared with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) diagnosis of benzodiazepine dependence. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to determine which cut-off score on SDS allowed the best trade-off between sensitivity and specificity. Results: SDS was shown to have high diagnostic utility, and a score higher than six on the scale appears to be an appropriate threshold for problematic benzodiazepine use. The SDS had a specificity of 94.2% and a sensitivity of 97.9%, and the area under the curve was of 0.991. Conclusion: The SDS was found to be a valid brief self-report questionnaire for the assessment of benzodiazepine dependence in patients using benzodiazepines.