title: The AUDIT questionnaire: choosing a cut-off score. Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test.
abstract: The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a 10-item questionnaire designed by the World Health Organization to screen for hazardous alcohol intake in primary health care settings. In this longitudinal study we examined its performance in predicting alcohol-related harm over the full range of its scores using receiver operating characteristic analyses. Three hundred and thirty ambulatory care patients were interviewed using a detailed assessment schedule which included the AUDIT questions. After 2-3 years, subjects were reviewed and their experience of alcohol-related medical and social harm assessed by interview and perusal of medical records. AUDIT was a good predictor of both alcohol-related social and medical problems. Cut-off points of 7-8 maximized discrimination in the prediction of trauma and hypertension. Higher cut-offs (12 and 22) provided better discrimination in the prediction of alcohol-related social problems and of liver disease or gastrointestinal bleeding, but high specificity was offset by reduced sensitivity. We conclude that the recommended cut-off score of eight is a reasonable approximation to the optimal for a variety of endpoints.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Conigrave
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000453:epidemiology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D014944:World Health Organization