Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO Collaborative Project on Early Detection of Persons with Harmful Alcohol Consumption-II |
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| Authors: | JOHN B SAUNDERS OLAF G. AASLAND THOMAS F. BABOR JUAN R. DE LA FUENTE MARCUS GRANT |
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| Affiliation: | Centre for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Ministry of Health and Social Services, Oslo, Norway;Alcohol Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, USA;Institute Mexicano de Psiquiatria, Mexico City, Mexico;Programme on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Division, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (A UDIT) has been developed from a six-country WHO collaborative project as a screening instrument for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption. It is a 10-item questionnaire which covers the domains of alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour, and alcohol-related problems. Questions were selected from a 150-item assessment schedule (which was administered to 1888 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% had an AUDIT score of 8 or more, and 94% of those with non-hazardous 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. |
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