Toolkit / Substance use

AUDIT: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

Self-report or interview, 10 items, scored 0–40, about 3 minutes

The World Health Organization’s ten-item screen for hazardous drinking, harmful drinking and possible dependence. Its first three questions form the AUDIT-C, a quick consumption screen.

Patient details for the printout optional · never saved or sent

Left blank, these print as lines to fill in by pen.

Questions are about the past year. One “drink” means one standard drink of about 10 g of alcohol — roughly 30 ml of spirits (whisky, rum, vodka), 100 ml of wine, or 250 ml of regular-strength (5%) beer. A large 650 ml bottle of strong beer is about 4 standard drinks.

  1. Alcohol consumption

  2. 1How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
  3. 2How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
  4. 3How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?

  5. Dependence symptoms

  6. 4How often during the last year have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you had started?
  7. 5How often during the last year have you failed to do what was normally expected from you because of drinking?
  8. 6How often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?

  9. Alcohol-related harm

  10. 7How often during the last year have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?
  11. 8How often during the last year have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?
  12. 9Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?
  13. 10Has a relative or friend, or a doctor or another health worker, been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down?

Interpreting the total

0–7Zone I — low risk: alcohol education
8–15Zone II — hazardous: simple advice
16–19Zone III — harmful: brief counselling and monitoring
20–40Zone IV — possible dependence: specialist assessment

Notes

  • A total of 8 or more identifies hazardous or harmful drinking. A total of 20 or more warrants assessment for alcohol dependence.
  • Risk zones and suggested responses follow the WHO AUDIT manual (2001). The manual suggests that clinical judgement may lower cut-offs for women and people over 65.
  • AUDIT-C (questions 1–3, scored 0–12) is a short consumption screen; positive cut-offs are commonly 4 or more in men and 3 or more in women.
  • Points on questions 7–10 indicate that alcohol-related harm is already occurring.

References

  1. Babor TF, Higgins-Biddle JC, Saunders JB, Monteiro MG. AUDIT: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Guidelines for Use in Primary Care. 2nd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2001.
  2. Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, de la Fuente JR, Grant M. Development of the AUDIT: WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption—II. Addiction. 1993;88(6):791–804.
  3. Bush K, Kivlahan DR, McDonell MB, Fihn SD, Bradley KA. The AUDIT alcohol consumption questions (AUDIT-C). Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(16):1789–1795.

Published by the World Health Organization; may be reproduced freely without permission.

An educational aid for clinicians, not a substitute for clinical judgement. Scores support, but never replace, a full assessment. Your answers on this page are never stored or sent.

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