The CAGE Questionnaire for Detection of Alcoholism

A Remarkably Useful but Simple Tool

O'Brien, Charles P. MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Corresponding Author: Charles P. O'Brien, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, 3900 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6178 ([email protected]).

Financial Disclosure: Dr O'Brien reports having served as a paid consultant to Wyeth, Alkermes, Cephalon, Merck, and Purdue Pharma.

Funding/Support: Dr O'Brien is supported in part by the National Institutes of Health Center Grant DA P60-001586-22 and AA RO1-17164-01.

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 300(17):p 2054-2056, November 5, 2008.

SUMMARY OF THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Detecting Alcoholism, The CAGE Questionnaire

John A. Ewing, MD

Four clinical interview questions, the CAGE questions, have proved useful in helping to make a diagnosis of alcoholism. The questions focus on Cutting down, Annoyance by criticism, Guilty feeling, and Eye-openers. The acronym “CAGE” helps the physician to recall the questions.

How these questions were identified and their use in clinical and research studies are described.

See PDF for full text of the original JAMA article.