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Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

AUDIT
health sciencespsychologyPublic domain

Permission: Public domain. Free to use, reproduce and adapt without asking permission. Cite the original publication.

A 10-item screening tool developed by the WHO to identify hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption and possible dependence over the past year.

Items
10
Response format
5-point frequency scale (0-4); two items scored 0-2-4
Version
1.0
Subscales
3

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Alcohol use was screened with the AUDIT (Saunders et al., 1993), a 10-item WHO instrument; a score of 8 or more indicates hazardous or harmful use.

Citing this in a methods section? This scale spans more than one discipline, so the style depends on where you publish. See the APA 7 or Vancouver guides, or compare all six citation styles.

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Reliability & validation

Validation population
Primary care patients across six countries (Saunders et al., 1993)
Cronbach's α
0.8

Subscales

Hazardous alcohol useDependence symptomsHarmful alcohol use

Known limitations

A screening instrument, not diagnostic. Optimal cutoffs vary by gender and population, and self-reported consumption is subject to under-reporting.

Original citation

Saunders, J. B., Aasland, O. G., Babor, T. F., de la Fuente, J. R., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption-II. Addiction, 88(6), 791-804.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02093.x

Questions researchers ask

What does the AUDIT measure?

A 10-item screening tool developed by the WHO to identify hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption and possible dependence over the past year.

How many items does the AUDIT have?

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) has 10 items across 3 subscales: Hazardous alcohol use, Dependence symptoms, Harmful alcohol use.

Is the AUDIT free to use?

The AUDIT is in the public domain: free to use, reproduce and adapt without seeking permission. Cite the original source.

Is the AUDIT reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.8. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the AUDIT, and how do I cite it?

Saunders, J. B., Aasland, O. G., Babor, T. F., de la Fuente, J. R., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption-II. Addiction, 88(6), 791-804. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02093.x

Or track new research mentioning AUDIT as it publishes

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Library entry verified July 2026. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.