10-item brief screener for drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco. ≈ 3 min to complete. Free with attribution.
DAST-10 (Drug Abuse Screening Test-10) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess 10-item brief screener for drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco.. It is most often used for 10-item brief screener for drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco.. The instrument contains 10 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 3 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
10-item brief screener for drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco. DAST-10 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, DAST-10 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 10 items below to see your DAST-10 score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 2-point scale (0–1). 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.
Score 1 point per yes answer. Total range 0-10. Score >= 6 suggests drug abuse/dependence.
Scoring notes: Score 1 point per yes answer. Total range 0-10. Score >= 6 suggests drug abuse/dependence.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | No problem | None |
| 3–5 | Moderate problem | Brief intervention |
| 6–10 | Severe problem | Referral for treatment |
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 | Have you used drugs other than those required for medical reasons? | No | 0 |
| 2 | Do you use more than one drug at a time? | No | 0 |
| 3 | Are you always able to stop using drugs when you want to? | Yes | 0 |
| 4 | Have you had blackouts or flashbacks as a result of drug use? | Yes | 1 |
| 5 | Do you ever feel bad or guilty about your drug use? | Yes | 1 |
| 6 | Does your spouse (or parent) ever complain about your involvement with drugs? | No | 0 |
| 7 | Have you neglected your family because of your use of drugs? | Yes | 1 |
| 8 | Have you engaged in illegal activities in order to obtain drugs? | No | 0 |
| 9 | Have you ever experienced withdrawal symptoms when you stopped taking drugs? | Yes | 1 |
| 10 | Have you had medical problems as a result of your drug use? | No | 0 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
0 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 4
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 4 falls between 3 and 5 → Moderate problem
Moderate problem. Brief intervention
A score is one input alongside history and examination. DAST-10 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 DAST-10 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 |
| AUDIT-C | 3-item brief version of AUDIT for quick alcohol screening in clinical settings. | 3 | ≈ 1 min |
| CAGE | Classic 4-item screening test for alcohol problems. | 4 | ≈ 1 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 | — |
DAST-10 (Drug Abuse Screening Test-10) is a validated instrument that assesses drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 3 min to complete, and the 10 items are summed to produce a total score.
DAST-10 typically takes about 3 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.
DAST-10 contains 10 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 10, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘No problem’ up to ‘Severe problem’.
On the DAST-10 (total score 0–10), scores of 6–10 fall in the ‘Severe problem’ band — interpreted as: Referral for treatment. The full ladder is: 0–2 — No problem: None.; 3–5 — Moderate problem: Brief intervention.; 6–10 — Severe problem: Referral for treatment. 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 0–2 fall in the ‘No problem’ 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.
DAST-10 has reported Cronbach's α of 0.92 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.85. Widely used in primary care and addiction treatment settings. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.92 indicates excellent internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.85 means scores are strongly stable when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
DAST-10 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.
Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behaviors, 7(4), 363-371. This is the original publication for the DAST-10 — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. DAST-10 is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of drug use problems excluding alcohol and tobacco — 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.
DAST-10 is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: