Spanish validation of the Brief Problem Gambling Screen in patients with substance use disorders.

Abstract

Problematic Gambling or Gambling Disorder (GD) can act by initiating and maintaining the problem of substance addiction. Despite this, there are no rapid screening tools validated in Spanish. The Brief Problem Gambling Screen (BPGS) has proven to be one of the most sensitive tools for detecting GD and populations at risk. This study aims to validate the Spanish version of the original five-item BPGS. A sample of 100 Spanish-speaking adults with substance use disorder were recruited from an addiction treatment center. The participants were administered the Spanish version of BPGS. It showed strong item reliability properties (Ω = 0.93). Sensitivity and specificity values were excellent (0.93 each), also positive (0.7) and negative (0.99) predictive values suggest high discriminant power when compared to non-GD subjects. Statistically significant strong correlation with a gold-standard measure (Problem Gambling Severity Index) was found (r = 0.8, p < 0.01). Similar psychometric properties were found in at-risk gambler patients. In conclusion, the BPGS seems to be an adequate screening instrument in Spanish-speaking clinical population, and also identifies at-risk of GD subjects.