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Printed on 7/20/2026
For informational purposes only. This is not medical advice.
AUDIT-C is the consumption-focused short form of AUDIT using the first three alcohol-use items. It is widely used in primary care, emergency, and inpatient workflows for fast first-line screening.
Formula: AUDIT-C total = Q1 + Q2 + Q3 (0-12). Common positive: men >=4, women >=3.
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The patient answers 3 questions about their past year alcohol use: how often they drink, how many drinks on a typical drinking day, and how often they have 6 or more drinks on one occasion. Each item is scored 0-4.
Add the three item scores to produce the AUDIT-C total (maximum 12). Higher scores reflect more frequent and heavier drinking patterns.
A score of ≥4 in men or ≥3 in women constitutes a positive screen for hazardous or harmful drinking (sensitivity 86–97%). A positive result should trigger full AUDIT and brief motivational intervention.
Primary Care Physicians
USPSTF Grade B recommends alcohol screening for all adults. AUDIT-C is the fastest validated tool for integrating alcohol screening into routine annual wellness visits.
Surgeons & Anesthesiologists
Identifying hazardous drinking preoperatively reduces surgical complications, alcohol withdrawal risk, and post-operative delirium. AUDIT-C is the preferred brief pre-op screen.
Emergency Medicine Clinicians
Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) in the ED reduces alcohol consumption and injury recurrence. AUDIT-C is widely used as the first-step screening component.
Psychiatrists & Psychologists
Alcohol use disorder co-occurs with depression, anxiety, and PTSD at high rates. AUDIT-C at intake identifies this critical comorbidity before treatment planning.
Occupational Health Nurses
Workplace alcohol screening programs use AUDIT-C to identify employees at risk for hazardous drinking impacting safety and productivity, guiding employee assistance program referrals.
AUDIT-C comprises the consumption subscale (items 1-3) of the full 10-item AUDIT questionnaire. A positive AUDIT-C should trigger administration of the complete AUDIT for more detailed assessment of alcohol-related harm and dependence.
Cochrane review (Kaner et al., 2018) demonstrates that brief interventions following a positive screen reduce alcohol consumption by 20-30%. AUDIT-C screening without follow-up intervention misses this evidence-based benefit.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gives alcohol misuse screening a Grade B recommendation for all adults 18 and older in primary care — meaning clinicians should routinely screen using a validated tool like AUDIT-C.
One US standard drink = 14g pure ethanol = 12 oz regular beer (5% ABV), 5 oz wine (12% ABV), or 1.5 oz distilled spirits (40% ABV). Patients often underestimate how much they drink because of non-standard serving sizes — clarify this before scoring.
Using the male threshold (≥4) for all patients misses hazardous drinking in women. The lower female threshold (≥3) reflects greater vulnerability to alcohol-related harm at lower consumption levels due to body composition differences in alcohol metabolism.
Patients significantly underreport alcohol use when they perceive stigma. Introduce AUDIT-C as 'routine health questions we ask everyone' rather than 'alcohol screening', and use open, neutral language to improve disclosure accuracy.
A positive AUDIT-C indicates hazardous or harmful drinking patterns — not an alcohol use disorder diagnosis. DSM-5 criteria (11 diagnostic items across 12 months) require clinical assessment by a trained provider.
AUDIT-C is validated for self-administration on paper or digital tablet, which may improve honesty of responses compared to face-to-face verbal questioning. Integrate into intake forms or patient portals where possible.
AUDIT-C was derived from the AUDIT, which was developed for international use. Standard drink sizes and low-risk drinking limits differ by country — the WHO global threshold is different from US NIAAA thresholds. Clarify national guidelines when using internationally.
AUDIT-C derived from AUDIT (Saunders et al., Addiction 1993) by Bush et al. (Arch Intern Med 1998). Sensitivity 86-97%, specificity 60-89% for hazardous drinking depending on population and threshold. USPSTF Grade B recommendation for alcohol misuse screening (2018). Cochrane review of brief interventions (Kaner et al., 2018): 20-30% reduction in alcohol consumption. NIAAA 2023 Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much guide recommends AUDIT-C for primary care screening.
Higher scores indicate greater likelihood of hazardous alcohol-use patterns and support deeper alcohol-use evaluation.
Use when quick alcohol-risk stratification is needed before deciding whether to run full AUDIT or broader substance assessment.
AUDIT-C focuses on consumption and does not directly measure dependence severity, consequences, or multi-substance patterns without follow-up.
Disclaimer: This tool is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider with questions about your health.
April 21, 2026 · trust-baseline
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Screen for hazardous and harmful alcohol use with the 10-question AUDIT. Scores range from 0 to 40 across four risk zones. For quick screening use [CAGE](/tools/cage).
OpenMental HealthQuick four-question alcohol screening using the CAGE questionnaire. A score of 2 or more suggests possible alcohol problems. For comprehensive screening, use [AUDIT](/tools/audit).
OpenMental HealthScreen for problematic alcohol or drug use with the 4-item CAGE-AID questionnaire.
OpenClinicalEstimate blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from standard drinks, body weight, sex, and time since drinking started using a Widmark-style model. Screen for alcohol use disorder with [AUDIT](/tools/audit) or [CAGE Questionnaire](/tools/cage).
Open