The AUDIT-C asks three questions about drinking in the past year: how often, how many drinks on a typical day, and how often six or more on one occasion. Each scores 0 to 4, for a total from 0 to 12. A total of 4 or more is positive for men, and 3 or more for women. Answer the questions to score it, see what each range means, and record the result with the free template.
AUDIT-C result template
FreeAUDIT-C ALCOHOL SCREEN Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or ID, age, sex the cutoff is based on] Format: [Self-completed on paper or tablet, or asked aloud; interpreter if used] Standard drink used: [The definition where you practice, and the drink sizes the patient described] ANSWERS Q1 How often: [Answer and points, 0 to 4] Q2 Drinks on a typical day: [Answer and points, 0 to 4] Q3 Six or more on one occasion: [Answer and points, 0 to 4] Total: [0 to 12] INTERPRETATION Cutoff applied: [4 or more for men, 3 or more for women, or your program's cutoff] Screen: [Negative or positive] Points from Q1 only: [Yes, with recent intake checked; or no] Range: [0 to 2, 3, 4 to 7, or 8 to 12, and what it means for this patient] Last result: [Date and total, or first screen] FOLLOW-UP Full AUDIT: [Total of 0 to 40 and the WHO zone, or not done and why] Brief intervention: [Feedback given, advice, and the patient's own goal; or not needed] Alcohol use disorder: [DSM-5 criteria met and severity, referral for assessment, or not indicated] Interactions and risks: [Medicines, conditions, pregnancy, driving, or none] PLAN Next step: [Routine rescreen, follow-up visit, referral, or treatment started] Tests: [Liver tests, blood count, or none] Rescreen: [Date or interval] Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Every item as published. The total and what it means update with each answer; nothing you choose leaves this page.
Now I am going to ask you some questions about your use of alcoholic beverages during this past year.
Use it for
The patient answers on paper, on a tablet, or aloud. All three questions cover the past year, and they take about a minute.
Avoid: Rewording the answer options. The points belong to the published answers, so a home-made scale can’t be scored.
Items 2 and 3 count drinks, so the answers depend on what counts as one. Use a standard drink as defined where you practice.
Avoid: Taking “a couple of glasses” at face value. Ask how big the glass is and how full.
Each item scores 0 to 4. Add them for a total from 0 to 12.
Avoid: Applying the men’s cutoff of 4 to everyone. It misses women who score 3 and drink at risky levels.
Positive at 4 or more for men and 3 or more for women. The higher the score, the more likely an alcohol use disorder.
Avoid: Calling a 3 or a 4 positive without looking at where the points came from. All of them from item 1 usually means frequent light drinking.
After a positive screen, give feedback and advice in the same visit, then decide how much more assessment is needed.
Repeat the AUDIT-C once a year in routine care, and at follow-up after a brief intervention to see whether drinking has changed.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Family practice, annual check-up, AUDIT-C on the intake tablet, checked by the physician
Q1: 2 to 3 times a week, 3. Q2: 3 or 4 drinks, 1. Q3: monthly, 2. Total 6 of 12. He had answered 1 or 2 drinks on the tablet; rescored after he described his usual 2 tall cans of 7% IPA, about 3.7 standard drinks of 14 grams. His monthly poker night is 4 cans, about 7 drinks.
45-year-old man. Cutoff applied: 4 or more for men. Positive, in the 4 to 7 range. Points from all three items, not item 1 alone. Last AUDIT-C 3, two years ago, negative for a man.
Full AUDIT 13, WHO zone II. Items 4 to 10: unable to stop 0, failed to do what was expected 1, morning drinking 0, guilt 1, memory loss 1, injury 0, concern from others 4: his wife raised it in the summer. Brief intervention: linked his blood pressure of 144/92 and broken sleep to the drinking nights, and showed him the can-to-drink count. His goal: one can on drinking nights, no more than 2 at poker, and a ride home that night. Fewer than 2 DSM-5 criteria; no alcohol use disorder. No interacting medicines.
Recheck blood pressure in 6 weeks before starting a medicine for it. Liver tests and a blood count with his routine bloods. Repeat the AUDIT-C at the 6-week visit, then yearly.
Primary care medication review, questions asked aloud by the practice nurse
Q1: 2 to 3 times a week, 3. Q2: 1 or 2 drinks, 0. Q3: never, 0. Total 3 of 12. Red wine with dinner, one glass. Her glass holds about 250 ml at 13%, close to 2 standard drinks, so still 1 or 2.
66-year-old woman. Cutoff applied: 3 or more for women. Positive at the cutoff, but every point is from item 1: frequent light drinking with no heavy days, confirmed over the past 3 months. First AUDIT-C.
Full AUDIT not done: no points on items 2 or 3, and no drinking problems on questioning. No alcohol use disorder. Interactions: zolpidem 5 mg most nights and gabapentin 300 mg three times a day for neuropathy; alcohol adds to the drowsiness and unsteadiness from both. Twice this month she felt dizzy getting up at night. Brief intervention: explained the interaction; the amount itself isn’t the concern. Her goal: a measured 150 ml glass, and no wine on nights she takes zolpidem.
Zolpidem taper over 6 weeks, with a referral for cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Gabapentin dose checked against kidney function: eGFR 64, no change. Night light and a clear path to the bathroom. Review sleep and dizziness in 4 weeks; rescreen in a year.
The usual cutoff is 4 or more for men and 3 or more for women. Holding women to 4 misses many who drink at risky levels.
A large glass of wine poured at home or a tall can of strong beer can be two standard drinks. Ask the size and strength before scoring items 2 and 3.
A 3 or 4 from item 1 alone usually means a drink or two most days, with no heavy days. Check recent intake before treating it as risky drinking.
A total of 2 can include heavy drinking occasions. Any point on item 3 is worth a question about when and how often.
A positive AUDIT-C says the drinking pattern is risky, not how severe the problem is. Follow it with the full AUDIT or an interview against the DSM-5 criteria.
Vero Scribe records the AUDIT-C result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: each answer, the cutoff you used, the follow-up, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the three questions scores 0 to 4. How often: never 0, monthly or less 1, 2 to 4 times a month 2, 2 to 3 times a week 3, 4 or more times a week 4. Drinks on a typical day: 1 or 2 is 0, 3 or 4 is 1, 5 or 6 is 2, 7 to 9 is 3, 10 or more is 4. Six or more on one occasion: never 0, less than monthly 1, monthly 2, weekly 3, daily or almost daily 4. Add them for a total from 0 to 12.
The usual cutoffs are 4 or more for men and 3 or more for women. Some programs use 3 or more for everyone. When all the points come from the first question, with no points for amount or heavy days, the person is likely drinking within recommended limits; check their recent drinking before calling it positive.
The higher the score, the more likely an alcohol use disorder. Scores of 8 to 12 are often called severe misuse, and some programs draw that line at 7 or 9. A high score calls for a brief intervention, questions about withdrawal, and an assessment for alcohol use disorder.
The AUDIT-C is the first three questions of the WHO’s 10-question AUDIT, all about how much and how often someone drinks. The full AUDIT adds seven questions on dependence and harm, scored 0 to 40, with 8 or more as positive. Many clinics give the AUDIT-C to everyone and the full AUDIT after a positive result.
For routine screening, yes. The AUDIT-C asks about amounts and heavy days, so it picks up risky drinking before problems set in. The CAGE asks about problems at any point in life and is best at finding dependence; it misses many heavy weekend drinkers.
A standard drink as defined where you practice. The WHO wrote the questions for a 10-gram drink; most English-speaking countries use 8 to 14 grams. Convert what the patient actually drinks: a tall can of strong beer or a large glass of wine can be two standard drinks.
Anyone on the care team, and patients can complete it themselves on paper or a tablet. Nurses and medical assistants often give it at intake. A clinician reads the result, checks where the points came from, and decides on the next step.
Yes. The AUDIT is a WHO-approved instrument in the public domain, and no permission is needed to use it for non-commercial purposes, as long as the questions aren’t changed and no one completing it is charged. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download too.
The WHO’s 10 questions on drinking, dependence, and harm, scored 0 to 40 into four zones that each come with an intervention.
Four yes-or-no questions on drinking problems at any point in life: positive at 2 or more of 4.
Ten signs rated at the bedside: how severe alcohol withdrawal is now, scored 0 to 67.
Eleven withdrawal signs, from pulse to gooseflesh, rated by a clinician: opioid withdrawal severity from 0 to 48.
A teen alcohol and drug screen for ages 12 to 21: days of use, then six yes-or-no questions scored 0 to 6, high risk at 2 or more.
After a high AUDIT-C: each substance, withdrawal risk, the diagnosis, and the level of care.
Screens, assessments, and follow-up notes, drafted from the visit for your review.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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