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
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

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