3-item brief version of AUDIT for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings. ≈ 1 min to complete. Free with attribution.
AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess 3-item brief version of audit for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings.. It is most often used for 3-item brief version of audit for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings.. The instrument contains 3 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 1 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
3-item brief version of AUDIT for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings. AUDIT-C is part of standard practice in this setting because it provides a structured, replicable assessment that can be tracked over time and compared across patients or visits.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, AUDIT-C is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 3 items below to see your AUDIT-C score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 5-point scale (0–4). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
Sum 3 items scored 0-4 (or 0-12 depending on gender for item 3). Total range 0-12. Women >= 4, Men >= 5 = hazardous.
Scoring notes: Sum 3 items scored 0-4 (or 0-12 depending on gender for item 3). Total range 0-12. Women >= 4, Men >= 5 = hazardous.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Low risk | None |
| 4–5 | Hazardous (women) | Brief intervention |
| 5–12 | Hazardous (men) | Brief intervention |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How often do you have a drink containing alcohol? | 2-4 times a month | 2 |
| 2 | How many standard drinks on a typical day when you are drinking? | 3 or 4 | 1 |
| 3 | How often do you have 6 or more drinks on one occasion? | Monthly | 2 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
2 + 1 + 2 = 5
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 5 falls between 4 and 5 → Hazardous (women)
Hazardous (women). Brief intervention
A score is one input alongside history and examination. AUDIT-C supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
Psychometric figures are drawn from the validation literature and may vary across clinical populations and translations.
If AUDIT-C doesn't fit your context, related instruments in addiction include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUDIT | 10-item WHO screening tool for hazardous alcohol consumption and dependence. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| CAGE | Classic 4-item screening test for alcohol problems. | 4 | ≈ 1 min |
| DAST-10 | 10-item brief screener for drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| FTND | 6-item measure of nicotine dependence severity for smoking cessation planning. | 6 | ≈ 2 min |
| PHQ-9 | Severity of depression | 9 | ≈ 3 minutes |
| GAD-7 | Severity of generalized anxiety | 7 | ≈ 2 minutes |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | Annual stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation | 8 | — |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | Level of consciousness after head injury | 3 | — |
AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise) is a validated instrument that assesses AUDIT for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 1 min to complete, and the 3 items are summed to produce a total score.
AUDIT-C typically takes about 1 min to administer. The exact duration varies a little depending on whether it is self-administered or completed with a clinician. Its brief format is part of what makes it practical for routine clinical use and for repeat administration when tracking change over time.
AUDIT-C contains 3 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 12, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘Low risk’ up to ‘Hazardous (men)’.
On the AUDIT-C (total score 0–12), scores of 5–12 fall in the ‘Hazardous (men)’ band — interpreted as: Brief intervention. The full ladder is: 0–3 — Low risk: None.; 4–5 — Hazardous (women): Brief intervention.; 5–12 — Hazardous (men): Brief intervention. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–3 fall in the ‘Low risk’ band: None. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
AUDIT-C has reported Cronbach's α of 0.8 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.78. Sensitivity 95% for heavy drinking and active alcohol use disorders. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.8 indicates good internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.78 means scores are well when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
AUDIT-C is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Bush, K., Kivlahan, D. R., McDonell, M. B., Fihn, S. D., & Bradley, K. A. (1998). The AUDIT alcohol consumption questions. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158(16), 1789-1795. This is the original publication for the AUDIT-C — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. AUDIT-C is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of AUDIT for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
AUDIT-C is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: