How to Take and Score the FAST Alcohol Screening Test

How to Take and Score the FAST Alcohol Screening Test Addiction Alcohol Use Print How to Take and Score the FAST Alcohol Screening Test By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Updated on November 18, 2019 FatCamera / Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Children of Alcoholics Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery The FAST alcohol screening test screens patients for hazardous drinking in busy medical offices and emergency rooms. Its specially designed to make a fast assessment. The majority of patients who take the FAST test only have to answer the first question.  So, depending on your response to the first question of the test, you might not need to answer the other questions at all. This is what makes the FAST test potentially the shortest hazardous drinking screening tool available today. Questions on the FAST Alcohol Screening Test Here are the four questions on the FAST test: 1. How often do you have eight or more drinks on one occasion? __ Never      __ Less Than Monthly      __ Monthly      __ Weekly      __ Daily or Almost Daily 2. How often during the last 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 3. How often during the last year have you failed to do what was normally expected of you because of your drinking? __ Never      __ Less Than Monthly      __ Monthly      __ Weekly      __ Daily or Almost Daily 4. Has a relative or friend, a doctor or other health worker been concerned about your drinking or suggested you cut down? __ No      __ Yes, but not in the last year.      __ Yes in the last year. How to Score the FAST Test To score the FAST test, use the following guide to scoring questions 1, 2 and 3: Never:  0 pointsLess than monthly:1 pointMonthly:  2 pointsWeekly:  3 pointsDaily or almost daily: 4 points To score question 4 use the guide below:   No: 0 pointsYes, but not in the last year:  2 pointsYes, in the last year:  4 points Analyzing the Results Now that you have the score, its time to analyze the results. As a general rule, higher scores are better than lower scores.   The maximum score you can get on the FAST test is 16.A total score of 3 indicates hazardous drinking.If a person answers never on the first question, he or she is not a hazardous drinker and the remaining questions are not necessary.If a person answers weekly or daily or almost daily on the first question, he or she is considered a hazardous drinker and you can skip the rest of the questions.If a person answers monthly or less than monthly to the first question, you need the other three questions to complete the screening for hazardous drinking. The FAST Test Compare With  the AUDIT Test and Cage Test The  AUDIT test, a longer screening test, is also an effective screening tool. However, it takes too long to administer and score in most busy physician offices and emergency rooms.   The FAST test is a short, two-phase test that  has four key questions from the AUDIT test. When compared to the full AUDIT test, the FAST test detects 93 percent of hazardous drinkers detected by the longer version. The  CAGE test  measures  alcohol dependency  over a lifetime and, like the FAST test, has four questions. The FAST test, in contrast, measures hazardous drinking in the past 12 months.