Examination of Screening of the Pachinko/Pachislot Playing Disorder Based on Gambling Disorder Scales

Pachinko and pachislot are unique forms of entertainment that dominate gambling activities in Japan. In this study, a web survey and interview were conducted in order to adjust three scales (DSM-5, SOGS, and PGSI) to pachinko/pachislot and explore an appropriate cutoff point for each of them. Using the assessment result in the interview as the outcome, the ROC curve of each scale was examined. The cutoff points were 4, 7, and 8 and the area under the curves (AUC) were 0.730, 0.783, and 0.724 for the DSM-5, SOGS, and PGSI, respectively. The study found that the type and situation of gambling influenced cutoff points in different ways depending on the questions asked in the scale.