Drug Abuse Screening Test - 10 item
DAST-10 is a 10-item drug-use screen. This page is for clinics. It is not a diagnosis.
Overview
What is the DAST-10?
The Drug Abuse Screening Test-10 asks about problems related to drugs other than alcohol over the past 12 months. It is a brief screen, not a toxicology result and not a full substance-use interview.
Development and clinical use
Skinner developed DAST, and DAST-10 is its 10-item short form. Lirena stores the DAST-10 wording from Skinner's Guide for Using the DAST (2019).
- Items
- 10 self-report
- Focus
- Drug-related problems
- Alcohol
- Usually assessed separately
- Scoring
- Yes = 1, question 3 reversed
- Clinical role
- Screening support
- Diagnosis
- Not established by score
Administration
A focused client experience
Adults complete ten yes/no items. Positive screens should trigger fuller assessment, local policy, and safety review. This page does not collect those answers.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
The illustration does not reproduce DAST items.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Each Yes scores 1, except question 3, where No scores 1. The total runs from 0 to 10. The guide's levels are None (0), Low (1-2), Intermediate (3-5), Substantial (6-8) and Severe (9-10), and the case-finding cut-off is 3.
References
- DAST developmentSkinner HA. The drug abuse screening test. Addict Behav. 1982;7(4):363-371.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the DAST-10
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
Does DAST-10 include alcohol?
No. The DAST-10 instruction asks about drugs other than alcohol. Use AUDIT or AUDIT-C for alcohol.
Does DAST-10 diagnose?
No. It is a brief screen.
Can I complete it here?
No. This page is educational.
Which DAST form should a clinic use?
Lirena uses the DAST-10 from Skinner's 2019 guide. Keep the form name with each result, because longer DAST forms score differently.
See how substance-use screens would sit in clinic review.
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