The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a simple screening method developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) that is used for quick and early detection of people with risky alcohol consumption. It consists of a total of 10 items, the first three of which focus on the level of alcohol consumption, the next three items refer to the occurrence of possible symptoms of addiction, and the last four are oriented to the consequences of alcohol abuse and the problems that excessive alcohol consumption can cause. The questionnaire has a version both for administration by an expert as a structured interview and for independent completion. You can find more information here.

Length of filling

Filling out the entire questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

After filling out the questionnaire, the respondent finds out whether his alcohol consumption is within the norm, risky, harmful or already an addiction.

Keywords

AUDIT, alcohol, risky consumption, addiction, alcohol use, identification of disorders

Scoring and interpretation

Possible answers to questions are scored 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 points, with the exception of questions 9 and 10, for which it is possible to score only 0, 2, and 4 points. A total score ranging from 0 to 40 is used for interpretation. Where 0 indicates an abstinent person who has never had any problems with alcohol, 1-7 points indicate a low-risk drinker, 8-14 points indicate hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption, and a score of 15 or more indicates a likelihood of alcohol dependence (moderate to severe alcohol use disorder).

References

Babor, T.F., Higgins-Biddle, J.C., Saunders, J.B., Monteiro, M.G. (2001). AUDIT: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Guidelines for Use in Primary Care. Second Edition. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/67205/WHO_MSD_MSB_01.6a.pdf?sequence=1

Saunders, J., Aasland, O., Babor, T., de la Fuente, J., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption–II. Addiction, 88(6), 791-804. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02093.x

Sovinová, H., & Csémy, L. (2010). The Czech audit: internal consistency, latent structure and identification of risky alcohol consumption. Central European Journal of Public Health, 18(3), 127-131. https://doi.org/10.21101/cejph.a3599