A Systematic Review Evaluating Screening Instruments for Gambling Disorder Finds Lack of Adequate Evidence

Abstract Objective To date, no research has systematically evaluated screening instruments for gambling disorder to assess their accuracy and the quality of the research. This systematic review evaluated screening instruments for gambling disorder to inform decision-makers about choices for population-level screening. Study Design and Setting On May 22, 2017 and January 4, 2019, we searched PubMed, PsycInfo, EMBASE, and Cochrane for studies that evaluated screening instruments for gambling disorder. Studies were included if (1) the screening instrument was in English, (2) the screening instrument was compared to a reference standard semi-structured interview based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases diagnoses of gambling disorder, and (3) data were reported on psychometric properties of the instrument. Results We identified 31 different screening instruments from 60 studies. Only three instruments from three separate studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review. Conclusion Few screening instruments for gambling disorder have been validated with sufficient methodological quality to be recommended for use across a large health system.