AUDIT is a comprehensive 10 question screening test that can be used to assess and identify a person’s alcohol consumption, drinking behaviours, and alcohol-related problems. The AUDIT screening test is sometimes used after the AUDIT-C test, when the score is five or more and a complete assessment is required.

AUDIT-C stands for Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption.¹

The aim of AUDIT-C is to identify those individuals who may be drinking at a harmful level or those at an increasing risk of drinking at harmful levels. This then allows the opportunity of intervention by a healthcare professional to reduce or cease alcohol consumption.

AUDIT is a 10-item questionnaire to identify hazardous and harmful alcohol use to allow for a brief intervention by clinical staff. There are numerous studies to show its validity and reliability.

AUDIT-C includes only the three questions from the full AUDIT. Its performance has also been evaluated and generally has been proven to be as effective as the full AUDIT.

The simplicity and speed of AUDIT-C supports its use in primary care and in other settings where speed is important. The full AUDIT can then be used to make decisions regarding specialist help if required.

There are just three questions in AUDIT-C.¹

• Each question has a score of between 0-4 points.
• These points are added together to provide a total score of between 0 and 12.
• This total score is used to assess a person’s relationship with alcohol.

A score of 5+ for both men and women indicates increasing or higher risk drinking, and requires deeper assessment of drinking patterns and alcohol-related complications.^2,4 For patients over 65, the threshold score may be reduced to 3+.⁴

Steps for AUDIT-C alcohol scoring results:^2,3,5,6