Online Collection of screening and withdrawal instruments
July 2021
On Monday 5th July, NCETA launched the much-anticipated Online Collection for AOD screening and withdrawal tools.
The collection comprises 18 commonly recommended AOD screening (10) and withdrawal (8) instruments for Australian populations and settings. The site is the first online repository of its kind.
NCETA worked with AOD stakeholders to identify the commonly recommended tools in Australia;
| Screening tools: | Withdrawal tools: |
| ASSIST | ACSA |
| ASSIST-Lite | AWQ |
| AUDIT | CWS |
| AUDIT-C | CIWA-aR |
| CAGE | CWA-B |
| DAST | COWS |
| DUDIT | SOWS |
| FTND | OOWS |
| IRIS | |
| SDS |
Screening is an important practice for systematically identifying at risk alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and standardised tools are equally important for monitoring withdrawal. Whilst tool descriptions and the tools themselves were available it became apparent that some were out-dated, not easily accessible and that identifiable knowledge gaps were not defined.
The Online Collection contains downloadable versions of each of the tools (available in different formats) as well as an overview covering appropriate populations for administration, diagnostics, utility, available resources, and knowledge gaps.
The site has already received glowing reports from within the sector, in particularly the accessibility of the Online Collection.
The Online Collection is available https://aodscreening.flinders.edu.au/
