Drug Abuse Screening Test (10-Item)
A 10-item yes/no screener for problems related to drug use (other than alcohol) over the past 12 months. The total is compared to published problem-level thresholds. Intended for use under clinician supervision.
This is a clinical instrument. It is not publicly self-administered — a clinician assigns it through a secure patient link.
At a glance
What it measures
The Drug Abuse Screening Test (Skinner, 1982), in its 10-item form, is a yes/no screener for problems related to drug use other than alcohol over the past 12 months. The count of problem-indicating answers is compared with the published problem-level thresholds shown in the scoring section.
It is intended for use under clinician supervision as a triage instrument; the level bands describe degrees of reported drug-related problems, not a diagnosis.
Psychometric properties
The notes below are reproduced from the platform's psychometrics register for this instrument — the same source-cited reliability, validity, and norms text that accompanies its downloadable report.
The DAST-10 shows good internal consistency (alpha around 0.86) and adequate test-retest reliability (Yudko, Lozhkina & Fouts, 2007).
A cutoff of 3 or more yields sensitivity around 0.85 and specificity around 0.75 for drug use disorders (Yudko et al., 2007).
Derived from Skinner's (1982) Drug Abuse Screening Test; scores map to none, low, moderate, substantial, and severe problem levels.
Example item
“Have you used drugs other than those required for medical reasons?”
Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.
Scoring & interpretation
Item responses are summed to a total score and compared against published screening cutoffs.
| Band | Threshold | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| No problems reported | ≥ 0 | No drug-related problems reported. No action is indicated beyond routine monitoring. |
| Low level | ≥ 1 | Low level of problems related to drug use (1–2); brief monitoring or advice is suggested. |
| Moderate level | ≥ 3 | Moderate level of drug-related problems (3–5); further investigation and brief intervention are recommended. |
| Substantial level | ≥ 6 | Substantial level of drug-related problems (6–8); intensive assessment is recommended. |
| Severe level | ≥ 9 | Severe level of drug-related problems (9–10); intensive assessment and treatment are recommended. |
Source & citation
Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behaviors, 7(4), 363–371. Freely available for clinical and research use.
Scoring. Cutoff thresholds per Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behaviors, 7(4), 363–371, as applied to the 10-item version.
Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) © Harvey A. Skinner (1982). Free for clinical and research use with attribution.
References
- Skinner, H. A. (1982). The Drug Abuse Screening Test. Addictive Behaviors, 7(4), 363-371.
- Yudko, E., Lozhkina, O., & Fouts, A. (2007). A comprehensive review of the psychometric properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 32(2), 189-198.