AUDIT-C scores and AUD diagnostic codes were obtained from the VA EHR. The AUDIT-C comprises the first three items of the AUDIT and measures typical quantity (item 1) and frequency (item 2) of drinking and frequency of heavy or binge drinking (item 3). The AUDIT-C is a mandatory annual assessment for all veterans seen in primary care. Our analyses used AUDIT-C data collected from 1 October 2007 to 23 February 2017. We validated the phenotype in a sample of 1851 participants from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study33, in which we found a highly significant association of AUDIT-C scores with the plasma concentration of phosphatidylethanol, a direct, quantitative biomarker that is correlated with the level of alcohol consumption. In the AA part of this sample (n = 1503), the AUDIT-C score was highly significantly associated with rs2066702, a missense (Arg369Cys) polymorphism of ADH1B, the minor allele of which is common in that population and has been associated with alcohol dependence25. We also examined AUDIT-C scores in 167,721 MVP participants (57,677 AAs and 110,044 EAs)24, comparing the association of AUDIT-C scores and
