Screening
Instrument: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Your
practice may choose to have patients fill out a written screening instrument before
they see a clinician. In this Guide, the AUDIT
is provided in both English and Spanish for this purpose. It takes only about
5 minutes to complete, has been tested internationally in primary care settings,
and has high levels of validity and reliability.13
You may photocopy these pages or download them from www.niaaa.nih.gov/guide.
Scoring
the AUDIT
Record the
score for each response in the blank box at the end of each line, then total these
numbers. The maximum possible total is 40. Total scores of 8 or more for men up
to age 60 or 4 or more for women, adolescents, and men over 60 are considered
positive screens.14,
15, 16
For patients with totals near the cut-points, clinicians may wish to examine individual
responses to questions and clarify them during the clinical examination.
Note:
The AUDIT's sensitivity and specificity for
detecting heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders varies across different populations.
Lowering the cut-points increases sensitivity (the proportion of "true positive"
cases) while increasing the number of false positives. Thus, it may be easier
to use a cut-point of 4 for all patients, recognizing that more false positives
may be identified among men.
Continuing
with screening and assessment
After
the AUDIT is completed, continue with Step
1, page 4. top
Previous |
Table of Contents | Next