CAGE Questionnaire

The CAGE questionnaire, the name of which is an acronym of its four questions, is a widely used method of screening for alcoholism.

Two "yes" responses indicate that the possibility of alcoholism should be investigated further. The questionnaire asks the following questions:

1. Have you ever felt you needed to Cut down on your drinking?
2. Have people Annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
3. Have you ever felt Guilty about drinking?
4. Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning (Eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

The CAGE questionnaire, among other methods, has been extensively validated for use in identifying alcoholism. CAGE is considered a validated screening technique, with one study determining that CAGE test scores >=2 had a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 76% for the identification of problem drinkers.

By far the most important question in the CAGE questionnaire is the use of a drink as an Eye Opener, so much so that some clinicians use a "yes" to this question alone as a positive to the questionnaire; this is due to the fact that the use of an alcoholic drink as an Eye Opener denotes abuse since the patient is going through withdrawal in the morning, hence the need for a drink as an Eye Opener

It is not valid for diagnosis of other substance use disorders, although somewhat modified versions of the CAGE questionnaire are frequently implemented for such a purpose.