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Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption

NCJ Number
158850
Journal
Addiction Volume: 88 Dated: (1993) Pages: 791-804
Author(s)
J B Saunders; O G Aasland; T F Babor; J R De La Fuente; M Grant
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article describes the development from a six-country World Health Organization (WHO) collaborative project of a screening instrument for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption.
Abstract
The Alcohol Use Disorders Test (AUDIT) is a 10-item questionnaire that covers the domains of alcohol consumption, drinking behavior, and alcohol-related problems. Questions were selected from a 150-item assessment schedule (which was administered to 1,888 persons attending representative primary health care facilities) on the basis of their representativeness for these conceptual domains and their perceived usefulness for intervention. Responses to each question are scored from 0 to 4, giving a maximum possible score of 40. Among those diagnosed as having hazardous or harmful alcohol use, 92 percent had an AUDIT score of 8 or more, and 94 percent of those with nonhazardous consumption had a score of less than 8. AUDIT provides a simple method of early detection of hazardous and harmful alcohol use in primary health care settings and is the first instrument of its type to be derived on the basis of a cross-national study. Tables, references, appendix