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Pick the question you need answered before choosing AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, or CAGE.
Use the concern that should not be missed in the first pass.
Estimate one sitting, including reading instructions and checking the score output.
Choose how the completed screener output will likely be used.
Keep standard unless your review intentionally uses a broader or stricter CAGE line.
Use balanced for general routing, or favor the reference frame you already need.
Screener route Fit Questions Recall Best use Reference line Limit Copy
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Decision Recommendation Details Copy
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Source slug Status Source role Preserved behavior Copy
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Tags: Diagnostics, Psychology, Psychometrics
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) Score the 10-item AUDIT alcohol screen, see WHO risk zones, domain patterns, priority cues, and follow-up notes for safer review.
Cut Down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener (CAGE) Assessment Screen four CAGE alcohol cues, compare 1+, 2+, and 3+ Yes thresholds, and review Eye-opener patterns with follow-up guidance.
Mood and Stress Screener Comparator Compare mood, anxiety, stress, distress, and older-adult screeners by concern, time, risk wording, fit score, and handoff caveat.
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) Score AUDIT-C alcohol screening answers, compare 3+, 4+, VA/DoD 5+, and 8+ reference lines, and review the strongest item cue.
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Alcohol screening is a first pass for deciding what kind of conversation or assessment should happen next. It is not the same as diagnosing alcohol use disorder, and it is not a substitute for a clinical history. In health guidance, unhealthy alcohol use can include risky drinking, harmful consequences, and alcohol use disorder, so the first screening question should match the concern being checked.

The choice of screener changes what the first pass can see and what it can miss. Consumption questions look at frequency, usual amount, and heavy-drinking days, which makes them useful for routine adult screening. Dependence-cue questions look for loss of control, criticism from others, guilt, and morning drinking. Harm questions look for consequences such as injury, blackouts, missed responsibilities, or concern from someone close to the person being screened.

Screener Main focus Best first question Common miss
AUDIT-C Current drinking pattern Is the amount or frequency of drinking in an unhealthy range? Dependence symptoms and alcohol-related harm can need a fuller check.
AUDIT-10 Consumption, dependence symptoms, and harm Which risk lane and follow-up level fit the full set of answers? It takes longer than a brief screen and still does not diagnose by itself.
CAGE Dependence-oriented cues Are control, guilt, criticism, or eye-opener concerns present? Hazardous drinking can appear before CAGE-style consequences are obvious.

A screening route should match the setting as well as the clinical question. A busy primary-care visit may favor a short first screen that can lead to brief counseling or a fuller review. A behavioral-health intake may justify a longer instrument because consequences, withdrawal risk, medications, mental health, and safety planning are already part of the conversation. A private self-check may be most useful when it separates a rough signal from a diagnosis and gives the person language for a follow-up visit.

Alcohol screener focus map A diagram showing how AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, and CAGE cover consumption, dependence cues, harm, and risk-zone interpretation differently. What each alcohol screener sees first Consumption Dependence cues Harm cues Risk lane AUDIT-C AUDIT-10 CAGE Pattern Control Consequences Follow-up level
The short screens are useful because they are focused. That focus also explains why a positive or negative result may need a different follow-up instrument.

Cutoffs are another reason route choice matters. A cutoff is a line for deciding when a screen should be considered positive, but the same person can cross one line and not another depending on the instrument, population, and purpose. Broader cutoffs catch more possible cases and create more follow-up work. Stricter cutoffs reduce false positives but can miss people who would benefit from a fuller conversation.

Alcohol screening also carries privacy and safety limits. Answers can affect medical records, insurance conversations, employment-sensitive settings, family relationships, and personal safety. A screen should be treated as sensitive health context, and urgent concerns such as withdrawal symptoms, injury, pregnancy, unsafe driving, severe intoxication, or immediate risk to self or others need qualified help rather than another screening comparison.

How to Use This Tool:

Set the review context before reading the ranked route. The score chooses which alcohol screener to complete first; it does not score a person's drinking.

  1. Choose Screening goal. Use fast unhealthy-use triage for a brief first pass, full risk lane when AUDIT-style zones matter, dependence-oriented cues for CAGE-style follow-up, or visit preparation when the output needs to support a later conversation.
  2. Set Most important signal to the concern that should not be missed: consumption, harm, dependence, or mixed alcohol concern.
  3. Select Available time and Review setting. Short time budgets lift brief routes, while program screening and behavioral-health review can justify the longer AUDIT-10 route.
  4. Keep the CAGE threshold lens at 2+ Yes for the standard comparison unless the review intentionally uses a broader 1+ net or stricter 3+ line.
  5. Open Advanced only when a specific cutoff frame should influence the ranking, such as common AUDIT-C cutoffs, the VA/DoD AUDIT-C 5+ line, WHO AUDIT zones, or CAGE dependence emphasis.
  6. Read Screener Route Table first. It ranks AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, and CAGE with a fit label, question count, recall window, best use, reference line, and limitation.
  7. Use Alcohol Route Fit Map, Alcohol Coverage Matrix, Follow-Up Briefing, and Source Tool Ledger when you need a visual comparison, a handoff note, or a record of what each route preserves.

If CAGE ranks first while the real job is routine unhealthy-use screening, change the goal or signal before exporting the result. CAGE can be useful for dependence cues, but it should not quietly replace a broader consumption or full AUDIT screen.

Interpreting Results:

The route fit score is a match score for the selected context. It does not mean the person has a 72 out of 100 alcohol risk, and it does not predict an AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, or CAGE result. Complete the selected screener separately, then interpret that completed score under its own rules.

Output cue What it means Check next
AUDIT-C leads The selected setup mainly needs a short consumption screen. Move to AUDIT-10 or clinical review if harm, loss of control, withdrawal, or safety concerns appear.
AUDIT-10 leads The context needs consumption, dependence symptoms, harm cues, and stepped risk-zone interpretation together. Read the completed AUDIT-10 score against its risk zones, not against the route fit number.
CAGE leads The inputs are dependence-cue heavy or the cutoff lens is emphasizing CAGE. Keep AUDIT-C or AUDIT-10 available when the task is broad adult screening rather than cue follow-up.
Top routes are close More than one screener fits the selected review context. Choose the shorter route when time is the constraint and the fuller route when unanswered harms or symptoms matter.
Coverage matrix is uneven The three routes cover consumption, dependence cues, harm, visit preparation, and full-lane interpretation differently. Favor the route that covers the concern the review cannot afford to miss.

The Follow-Up Briefing is best treated as a short rationale, not a clinical note. It names the recommended first route, the cutoff frame, the signal to protect, the CAGE role, and a privacy reminder. Review that text before copying it into a chart, intake packet, message, or personal note.

Exports can make sensitive context easier to share than intended. CSV tables, DOCX files, chart images, copied rows, and JSON downloads may reveal that an alcohol screen is being planned even when no completed answers are included.

Technical Details:

AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, and CAGE differ because they were built around different measurement targets. AUDIT-C is the three-item consumption section of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, so it concentrates on past-year frequency, usual quantity, and heavy-drinking occasions. AUDIT-10 keeps those consumption items and adds questions about impaired control, morning drinking, guilt, memory loss, injuries, and concern from others. CAGE is shorter and asks whether the person has felt a need to cut down, been annoyed by criticism, felt guilty, or used alcohol as an eye-opener.

Route selection is therefore a coverage problem before it is a scoring problem. A consumption-heavy setup should not reward CAGE as though it were a broad screen. A dependence-cue setup should not ignore CAGE just because it has fewer questions. A full risk-lane setup needs the wider AUDIT-10 frame because risk zones require the complete 10-question score.

Route Fit Formula

The displayed route fit is clamped to 0 to 100 after combining weighted coverage, time fit, route bonuses, the CAGE role adjustment, and any under-one-minute penalty.

R = clamp ( round ( 66C + 22T + B + A - P ) , 0 , 100 )

Coverage is normalized before it is weighted into the route score. Each screener has 0 to 5 coverage values for the alcohol-screening dimensions, and the selected goal, signal, setting, and cutoff emphasis decide the weights.

C = ∑in wi × xi 5 × ∑in wi
Symbol Component How it affects the route
C Weighted coverage Compares each screener's 0 to 5 coverage values for consumption, dependence cues, harm cues, full-lane interpretation, and visit preparation against the selected goal and signal.
T Time fit Gives full credit when the route fits the selected time budget and gradually reduces credit when the estimated completion time exceeds it.
B Route bonus Adds targeted points when a route naturally matches the goal, signal, setting, or cutoff emphasis, such as AUDIT-10 for full-lane review.
A CAGE role adjustment Penalizes CAGE for broad consumption and full-lane screening, then gives it a smaller lift when dependence cues are the selected concern.
P Very short session penalty Subtracts points from routes that normally take longer when the time budget is under one minute.
Route Questions Recall Reference line shown Interpretation boundary
AUDIT-C 3 Past year Common 3+ or 4+ references, with the VA/DoD 5+ line available as a comparison emphasis. It is a consumption screen, so consequences and dependence symptoms need follow-up when present.
AUDIT-10 10 Past year WHO-style zones of 0 to 7, 8 to 15, 16 to 19, and 20 to 40. It gives the broadest screening frame here, but diagnosis and treatment planning still require clinical judgment.
CAGE 4 Lifetime by default Usually 2+ Yes answers, with 1+ and 3+ lenses available for broader or stricter comparison. It is dependence-cue focused and can miss unhealthy drinking before obvious consequences appear.

Fit labels are assigned after the numeric route score is calculated. Scores of 85 or higher are labeled Primary route, scores of 72 to 84 are Strong fit, scores of 58 to 71 are Use with caveat, and lower scores are Secondary fit. Those labels are comparison labels only; the completed AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, or CAGE instrument supplies the actual screening score.

Responsible Use Note:

Alcohol screeners are informational aids. They can organize a self-check, primary-care visit, program intake, or behavioral-health conversation, but they do not diagnose alcohol use disorder by themselves. Positive screens and dependence cues should be interpreted with health history, medications, withdrawal risk, pregnancy status, mental health, safety context, and local clinical guidance.

Worked Examples:

Brief primary-care triage

A clinic has less than three minutes and mainly needs to know whether current drinking frequency, amount, or heavy-day pattern should trigger follow-up. With fast unhealthy-use triage, consumption signal, and primary-care setting selected, AUDIT-C should usually lead. AUDIT-10 remains the next route if the brief result raises harm or symptom questions.

Planned behavioral-health review

A longer visit needs drinking pattern, control symptoms, and alcohol-related harm in one frame. With full risk lane, mixed signal, behavioral-health setting, and no strict time limit, AUDIT-10 should usually rank highest because it covers the widest part of the screening picture.

Dependence cues are already central

Someone reports morning drinking or repeated failed attempts to cut down. Dependence-oriented cues and a CAGE emphasis may move CAGE to the top, especially when the review is a focused follow-up. If the original task is broader adult screening, keep AUDIT-C or AUDIT-10 in the plan rather than treating CAGE as the only route.

FAQ:

Is the route fit score an AUDIT or CAGE score?

No. It is a comparison score for choosing a first screener route. AUDIT-C, AUDIT-10, and CAGE scores come only from completing those instruments.

Why can CAGE rank lower for routine alcohol screening?

CAGE focuses on dependence cues rather than the full spectrum of unhealthy alcohol use. Routine adult screening often starts with current consumption, so AUDIT-C or AUDIT-10 may be a better first route.

What if the cutoff lens changes the recommended route?

Check the reference line in the route table and confirm that it matches the decision you need. The cutoff lens changes the comparison priority; it does not rewrite the underlying screener scoring.

Does a low route fit mean a screener is invalid?

No. It means the screener is less aligned with the selected goal, signal, time budget, setting, or cutoff frame. The screener may still be appropriate for a different review context.

Does the comparison send alcohol answers to a server?

The comparison math runs in the browser and the tool does not ask for completed alcohol-screening answers. Saved exports, copied text, shared links, and local files can still reveal sensitive alcohol-review context.

Glossary:

AUDIT-C
The three consumption questions from the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.
AUDIT-10
The full 10-question Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, covering consumption, dependence symptoms, and harm.
CAGE
A four-question dependence-cue screen based on cut down, annoyed, guilty, and eye-opener prompts.
Cutoff lens
The threshold frame used to emphasize a route during comparison, such as a CAGE Yes-answer line or an AUDIT-C reference line.
Route fit
A 0 to 100 match score for selecting a screener route, not a person's alcohol-risk score.

References: