AUDIT-C Alcohol Screen Assessment

Introduction

Alcohol exposure affects health, sleep, and safety long before dependence develops, so a quick pulse on drinking patterns is invaluable. The three-question Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test – Consumption (AUDIT-C) asks about how often you drink, how much you pour, and how frequently heavy episodes occur, converting that snapshot into a total score that mirrors primary-care cut-points.

You respond with the past twelve months in mind, using standard drinks for quantity. The app returns a total on a 0 to 12 scale, qualitative grades for frequency, quantity, and heavy episodes, and a risk band that adjusts automatically for sex because research shows women typically encounter harm at lower totals. Linking those scores to the specific drivers lets you act on the leading signal rather than chasing every possible change.

Picture someone who drinks twice a week, usually three drinks, and has six or more only on big celebrations. Their total of 5 places a man in the Moderate Risk band and a woman in the High Risk band, highlighting how sex-specific thresholds sharpen decision-making. Watching whether the heavy-episode score drops after cutting back on pre-event drinks gives a concrete measure of progress instead of guessing from memory.

Keep the twelve-month frame, translate large pours or craft cocktails into standard drinks before answering, and factor in confounders such as temporary abstinence for medical reasons or seasonal festivities. High or rapidly climbing totals signal the need for professional guidance, especially if other health conditions or medications are involved. Reach for the full AUDIT-10 when you need to examine consequences and concern from others; use this concise AUDIT-C when you need a fast check between medical visits or as part of routine lifestyle reviews.

Technical Details

AUDIT-C isolates the consumption portion of the full AUDIT by measuring three observable quantities: how frequently a person drinks alcohol, the typical number of standard drinks consumed on a drinking day, and how often six or more drinks are taken on one occasion. These inputs summarise both routine exposure and binge tendencies, which together forecast future injury and chronic disease risk.

Each item is scored on a 0 to 4 ordinal scale, with higher scores indicating higher risk. The total score T is the simple sum of all three responses, producing a range from 0 to 12. Because each question represents a distinct risk driver, the tool also reports the individual item scores as mini-subscores graded none, mild, moderate, or severe using quarter-based cut points (0, 1, 2–3, 4). Sex-specific thresholds map totals to risk categories: for men, Low Risk is 0 to 3, Moderate is 4 to 5, High is 6 to 7, and Possible Dependence is 8 to 12; for women, Low Risk is 0 to 2, Moderate is 3 to 4, High is 5 to 7, and Possible Dependence is 8 to 12.

Guidance focuses on adjustments linked to each driver. High frequency suggests scheduling alcohol-free days, high quantity points to portion control or lower-strength alternatives, and high heavy-episode scores cue pre-event planning and transport safeguards. Pattern detection highlights whether one dimension dominates or if the profile is balanced.

Interpretation assumes adult drinkers, honest recall, and local standard drink conversions. The screen does not detect withdrawal risk, co-occurring substance use, or medical contraindications, and it should be paired with clinical judgement for pregnant individuals, adolescents, or people taking interacting medications.

This tool provides informational estimates and does not substitute professional advice. Use it to guide conversations with qualified clinicians, particularly when chronic illness, medications, or pregnancy are part of the picture.

Variables & Parameters

Sex defaults to male but updates as soon as you select a different option, ensuring incoming query parameters restore the correct thresholds.

Rounding Policy

Scoring uses integers only. Percentages shown in progress bars are rounded to the nearest whole number for readability; totals remain exact.

Input & Validation

All questions must be answered before results display; unanswered items remain highlighted to prompt completion.

I/O Formats & Encoding

The encode/decode helpers synchronise state with the URL only after you interact, so the initial load never mutates the query string.

Networking & Storage

All data stays in the browser; there are no network calls. Question text, scoring logic, and advice arrays are bundled with the application so results appear immediately.

State persistence relies solely on query parameters. No localStorage or cookies are used, and closing the tab clears the responses unless you saved the URL.

Performance & Complexity

Computation touches three values, so complexity is O(3) with constant-time band lookups. The gauge renders once all answers are available and resizes on demand, keeping runtime negligible.

Diagnostics & Determinism

Given the same answers and sex selection, the tool always returns identical totals, bands, and narrative advice. Drivers and strengths are sorted by score and then label, ensuring ties resolve predictably.

Security Considerations

Inputs are constrained to predefined select options; no free text is accepted. URL parameters are validated against strict regular expressions before decoding, preventing malformed states or code injection.

Assumptions & Limitations

• Self-report bias can suppress totals if respondents underestimate frequency or quantity.
• The three-item format omits harm and concern cues captured by the full AUDIT-10.
• Standard drink conversions differ worldwide; misalignment inflates or deflates scores.
• Sex input is binary and does not capture nuanced physiological differences.
• Pregnancy, chronic liver disease, or certain medications may require stricter thresholds.
• Binge frequency uses a binary threshold of six drinks, which may miss lower-level harm.
• Seasonal drinking spikes can raise totals even if yearly average risk is lower.
• Morning drinking or withdrawal signs are not measured here; escalate to full assessments if suspected.
• Sharing URLs could expose drinking patterns if passed without consent.

Edge Cases & Error Sources

• Leaving a question unanswered keeps totals at zero until completion.
• Entertaining temporary sobriety (e.g., Dry January) without noting rebound months may understate frequency.
• Counting shots as single drinks rather than standard measures overstates safety.
• Choosing “male” when thresholds for women apply understates risk.
• Forgetting to adjust for low-alcohol beer or mocktails may exaggerate consumption.
• Monthly six-plus episodes that cluster in a single festival can appear moderate despite acute risk.
• Pasting a malformed response string in the URL simply resets answers, possibly confusing users.
• Browser translation tools can rephrase answer text, risking misinterpretation.
• Gauge animation may appear static on very old devices, though totals remain accurate.
• Very high tolerance can mask harm even when scores sit in the Moderate range.

Scientific & Standards Backing

Risk thresholds follow the Bush, Kivlahan, McDonell, Fihn, and Bradley (1998) validation of the AUDIT-C for primary care screening.

Sex-specific cutoffs reflect guidance compiled by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the World Health Organization AUDIT implementation manual.

Privacy & Compliance

Responses remain in memory and in optional query parameters; clearing the URL or reloading removes them. Organisations embedding the tool must handle consent and data retention separately to meet local regulations.