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AUDIT scoring

Use the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to support your clinical assessment. Enter the client’s responses below to calculate a total and find the WHO risk zone. This tool is for clinicians and supports, rather than replaces, a clinical interview.

Because alcohol use can affect your health and can interfere with certain medications and treatments, it is important that we ask some questions about your use of alcohol. Your answers will remain confidential so please be honest. Place an X in one box that best describes your answer to each question.

1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
2. How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?
4. How often during the last year have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you had started?
5. How often during the last year have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of drinking?
6. How often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?
7. How often during the last year have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?
8. How often during the last year have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because of your drinking?
9. Have you or someone else been injured because of your drinking?
10. Has a relative, friend, doctor, or other health care worker been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down?

Answered 0 of 10

Running total: 0 / 40

Answer every scored item to see the result and copy it.

Answers stay in this browser. Nothing is saved or sent.

How to score the AUDIT

  1. Choose one answer for each of the 10 questions. Questions 4 to 8 ask about the last year.
  2. Questions 1 to 8 score 0 to 4 points. Questions 9 and 10 score 0, 2 or 4 points. The points are shown next to each answer.
  3. Add all answers for a total from 0 to 40.
  4. In the interview version, the WHO guide allows skipping to questions 9 and 10 when the client has not had a drink in the last year, or when questions 2 and 3 total 0. Here, choose the 0-point answer for each skipped question.
  5. Compare the total with the WHO risk zones below. The guide also suggests the next highest level of intervention for a client who scores 2 or more on questions 4, 5 and 6, or 4 on question 9 or 10.

WHO risk zones

AUDIT total scores and risk zone and suggested intervention
Total scoreRisk zone and suggested intervention
0 to 7zone I, alcohol education
8 to 15zone II, simple advice
16 to 19zone III, simple advice plus brief counseling and continued monitoring
20 to 40zone IV, referral to specialist for diagnostic evaluation and treatment

What the score means and what it does not

Total scores of 8 or more are recommended as indicators of hazardous and harmful alcohol use, as well as possible alcohol dependence. A cut-off of 10 gives greater specificity at the expense of sensitivity, and a cut-off one point lower, at 7, increases sensitivity for women and for men over age 65. Look at where the points fall: points on question 2 or 3 indicate consumption at a hazardous level, points on questions 4 to 6 suggest the presence or start of alcohol dependence, and points on questions 7 to 10 indicate that alcohol-related harm is already being experienced. Scores of 20 or more clearly warrant further diagnostic evaluation for alcohol dependence. The WHO describes these guidelines as tentative and subject to clinical judgment.

Using the AUDIT over time

Questions 9 and 10 separate past problems (“Yes, but not in the last year”) from current ones. The WHO guide suggests reviewing them to discuss the need for vigilance, even when current drinking is not hazardous. Use a stepped approach: start with the intervention suggested by the client’s zone, and if they do not respond, move to the next level of care.

Frequently asked questions

What do the AUDIT risk zones mean?

Zone I (0 to 7) suggests alcohol education, zone II (8 to 15) simple advice, zone III (16 to 19) simple advice plus brief counseling and continued monitoring, and zone IV (20 to 40) referral to a specialist for diagnostic evaluation and treatment.

What is a positive AUDIT score?

The WHO guide recommends 8 or more as an indicator of hazardous and harmful alcohol use and possible dependence. A cut-off of 7 increases sensitivity for women and for men over age 65.

How are AUDIT questions 9 and 10 scored?

They have three answers: No (0), Yes, but not in the last year (2), and Yes, during the last year (4).

Can clients fill in the AUDIT themselves?

Yes. The WHO guide has a self-report version and an interview version. The questionnaire takes less time and may produce more accurate answers, while the interview allows clarification and immediate brief advice.

How long does the AUDIT take?

The AUDIT can usually be completed in two to four minutes and scored in a few seconds.

Sources

Babor TF, Higgins-Biddle JC, Saunders JB, Monteiro MG. AUDIT: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Guidelines for Use in Primary Care. 2nd ed. World Health Organization; 2001 (WHO/MSD/MSB/01.6a).

Saunders JB, Aasland OG, Babor TF, de la Fuente JR, Grant M. Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption, II. Addiction. 1993;88(6):791-804.

AUDIT use rights, frequently asked questions. auditscreen.org.

The AUDIT was developed by the World Health Organization. As a WHO-approved instrument, the AUDIT is in the public domain. Questions are from the self-report version in the WHO guide (Box 10).

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