The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a computer-based 3-item version (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption [AUDIT-C]) of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) identifies alcohol use disorder (AUD) in the same patients as the full 10-item version in 809 women and 747 men in an anesthesiology preoperative assessment clinic.
According to cutoffs used (AUDIT: 5–8 points, AUDIT-C: 4–6 points), rate of disagreement (AUDIT-positive and AUDIT-C-negative or vice versa) ranged between 4% and 31% (men) and between 4% and 19% (women).
In male patients, 15% were positive for both the AUDIT (≥8 points) and the AUDIT-C (≥6 points), 7% were positive for AUDIT-C only, and 4% were positive for AUDIT only.
In female patients, using cutoffs of 5 more points (AUDIT) and 4 or more points (AUDIT-C), 16% were positive for both versions, 9% were positive for AUDIT-C only, and 2% were positive for AUDIT only.
The AUDIT and AUDIT-C seem to identify AUD in differing patients.
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