• Prevention
  • Addiction medicine
  • General medicine

AUDIT-C score

Identifying risky alcohol use

The AUDIT-C is a brief screening questionnaire for hazardous alcohol consumption. It includes the three consumption items from the full AUDIT. It opens an evaluation of use without, on its own, providing a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder or dependence.

Number of questions
3 questions
Approximate duration
About 1 minute
Population
Adults
Modality
Self-administered questionnaire or interview

QuestionnaireAUDIT-C

SELF-QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire explores three dimensions of alcohol consumption over the past twelve months: drinking frequency, the typical amount consumed, and the frequency of consuming at least six standard drinks on a single occasion. Each item is scored from 0 to 4. The result should be interpreted taking into account the definition of a standard drink and the clinical context.

Are you patient?

You can answer this yourself. The results are used to discuss your usage and needs; they do not reduce your situation to a label.

Question 1 / 4

1

You are:

Terms of contract

The interview should provide an opportunity to discuss habits without judgment. Constructive feedback distinguishes between the numerical score, the reported intake, and any consequences mentioned.

Score interpretationAUDIT-C

Each response is scored from 0 to 4. The total is between 0 and 12.

Total score

First reading

  • 0 to 3

    No misuse suspected according to the HAS (French National Authority for Health) thresholds.

  • 4 to 9

    Misuse suspected according to the HAS (French National Authority for Health) thresholds (3 points or more in women, 4 points or more in men).

  • 10 to 12

    Possible dependence according to the HAS (French National Authority for Health) thresholds (10 points or more, regardless of sex).

According to the screening thresholds used in France, alcohol misuse is suspected starting at 3 points for women and 4 points for men. A score of 10 or more may indicate possible dependence and warrants a thorough clinical assessment. None of these thresholds alone allows for a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder or dependence.

The questionnaire is self-reported and does not describe all the consequences of use. A low score is not a guarantee of the absence of risk in all situations. The total is neither a number of drinks nor an individual probability of dependence, and it is not sufficient to characterise dependence or define the methods of withdrawal.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and references

Katharine Bush and colleagues; abbreviated version of the WHO AUDIT

Initial validation: Archives of Internal Medicine, 1998. Interpretation thresholds: HAS guidelines.

Questionnaires and associated scores

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