Photo Credit: VadimZakirov

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) questionnaire demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability across different demographics and screening modalities, according to data in Alcohol Clinical & Experimental Research. Claire B. Simon, MD, from the University of Washington, and colleagues collected EHR data from Kaiser Permanente Washington, which included 18,491 patients in primary care who completed two AUDIT-C screens 1-21 days apart during routine care in 2021. The researchers evaluated reliability for total scores (0-12) and a binary measure indicating unhealthy alcohol use (scores ≥3 for women, ≥4 for men). The researchers defined reliability coefficients as “excellent” if participants were above 0.75. The results demonstrated positive test-retest reliability for total scores (ICC=0.87; 95% CI, 0.87-0.87) and the binary measure of unhealthy alcohol use (k=0.79; 95% CI, 0.78-0.80). Reliability was good to excellent across all demographic subgroups, with slightly lower reliability among American Indian/Alaska Native (ICC=0.82; 95% CI, 0.75-0.87) and multiracial patients (ICC=0.82; 95% CI, 0.80-0.84). AUDIT-C had the highest reliability when both screens were completed online (ICC=0.93; 95% CI, 0.93-0.93), compared with in-clinic (ICC=0.81; 95% CI, 0.79-0.82) or mixed modalities (ICC=0.83; 95% CI, 0.82-0.83).