But we were just having some fun… (Rather, do you have a drinking problem?)

guest — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:33:42 GMT

Football, tail-gating, beer … you know the scene. Parties with binge-drinking are a dangerous part of today’s culture. Scary.

Little wonder an estimated 1,700 college students succomb to alcohol-related deaths each year and an estimated one-third are “at risk for problem drinking.” Whether or not you are a college student, this AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) can help you assess if you have a drinking problem.

Be wise,

Nancy

Please circle the answer that is correct for you

1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?

Never • Monthly or less • 2?4 times a month • 2?3 times a week • 4 or more times a week

2. How many standard drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when drinking?

1or2 • 3or4 • 5or6 • 7to9 • 10 or more

3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?

Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

4. During the past year, how often have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you had started?

Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

5. During the past year, how often have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of drinking?

Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

6. During the past year, how often have you needed a drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?

1• Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

7. During the past year, how often have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?

Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

8. During the past year, have you been unable to remember what happened the night before because you had been drinking?

Never • Less than monthly • Monthly • Weekly • Daily or almost daily

9. Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?

No • Yes, but not in thepast year • Yes, during the pastyear

10. Has a relative or friend, doctor or other health worker been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down?

No • Yes, but not in thepast year • Yes, during the pastyear

Scoring the audit

Scores for each question range from 0 to 4,with the first response for each question (eg never) scoring 0, the second (eg less than monthly) scoring 1, the third (eg monthly) scoring 2, the fourth (eg weekly) scoring 3, and the last response (eg. daily or almost daily) scoring 4. For questions 9 and 10, which only have three responses, the scoring is 0, 2 and 4 (from left to right).

A score of 8 or more is associated with harmful or hazardous drinking, a score of 13 or more in women, and 15 or more in men, is likely to indicate alcohol dependence.

1Saunders JB, AaslandOG, Babor TF et al. Development of the alcohol use disorders identification test(AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption — II. Addiction 1993, 88: 791–803.

Blog Posts From Active Expert: Nancy Clark RD CSSD Tagged With assess_if_you_have_a_drinking_problem

But we were just having some fun… (Rather, do you have a drinking problem?)