Despite the known health impacts of unhealthy alcohol use, accurate characterization of the spectrum of alcohol exposure is challenging.14,15 To assess alcohol consumption among patients and study participants, health care providers and researchers typically rely on self-reported measures. However, likely due to social desirability bias, alcohol consumption is frequently under-reported, especially among populations such as HIV+ or HCV+ individuals for whom alcohol use is discouraged.16,17 Reliance on self-report is an important limitation in many alcohol studies;14,18 however, it remains the standard method for characterizing exposure in clinical settings.14 The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) questionnaire is widely used to screen for self-reported alcohol consumption19,20 and has been validated in multiple settings.19–21
