Your Survey Doctor MAST result is a weighted total from 0 to 53. It comes from 24 yes-or-no questions, and most of them ask whether something has ever happened. The total does not describe current drinking, and Survey Doctor shows it without a category label. Read the number with the answers, their timing, and current alcohol use.
The quick answer
| Part of this result | Current Survey Doctor output |
|---|---|
| Questions | 24 required yes-or-no answers |
| Stored values | 0, 1, 2, or 5 points |
| Total | A whole number from 0 to 53 |
| Timeframe | Mostly lifetime experiences, not one period |
| Score label | None |
The total is not a diagnosis. It cannot show how much you drink now, whether withdrawal is likely, or what care you need.
Which form you answered
Selzer's 1971 paper introduced the MAST. Later versions changed the number of questions, wording, follow-up fields, and scoring conventions.
Survey Doctor uses the 24 weighted questions printed in a 1997 SAMHSA guide for primary care clinicians. That printing also has an unscored opening question and asks how many times after the two arrest questions. Survey Doctor leaves those parts out.
The PAR technical history describes a 25-question original and a 24-question revision from 1975. Keep the form name with your result if you compare it with a paper MAST.
How the scoring works
Answers contribute 0, 1, 2, or 5 points. Four questions are keyed in the opposite direction, so No adds points on those questions. All 24 answers are required for a native result.
The values add to 0 through 53. Each question counts once at its printed weight. Some paper versions add extra points for each arrest or delirium tremens episode, and Survey Doctor does not ask for those counts.
Manual entry also accepts only whole numbers from 0 to 53. A score-only entry cannot prove which version was used or whether every question was answered.
Unequal weights do not tell you which experience is most important now. A five-point answer may describe help sought years ago, while a lower-weight answer may describe a current concern.
Why no category label appears
Published cutoffs differ. Selzer's 1971 scoring treated 5 or more points as the screening cutoff and 4 points as suggestive. PAR reports that a 1975 revision moved to 0-4, 5-6, and 7 or more to reduce false positives. Later studies proposed other cutoffs for their own samples.
Survey Doctor keeps the number and does not choose one of these schemes as a label. Do not restore a category from an older screenshot or article.
Lifetime history is not current status
The same total can describe someone with remote experiences in long-term recovery or someone with an active concern. Review when each endorsed event happened.
Bring current information to a doctor or alcohol specialist: how often you drink, how much, recent consequences, medicines, health conditions, and what you want help with. You do not need to cross a score boundary to ask for support.
The MAST also cannot show that current drinking is safe. A low lifetime total does not overrule symptoms or concern.
What the form covers
The questions span perceived control, other people's concerns, memory loss, health experiences, help-seeking, work, relationships, and legal consequences. These topics do not create separate scored sections.
Several answers can describe a past period that has ended. The form does not ask enough about current quantity, frequency, timing, or withdrawal risk to establish present status.
Review the answers. Do not rely on the sum alone.
What the MAST doesn't tell you
It does not measure how much you drink. Someone drinking heavily without many recorded lifetime consequences might have a low result.
It does not separate past from present. Historical experiences contribute like current ones, so a person in long-term recovery may still have a high total.
It does not diagnose alcohol use disorder, choose treatment, or determine urgency. A clinical assessment needs more than this total.
If you're concerned about your drinking
You can talk with a doctor, alcohol specialist, or another qualified provider regardless of the total. Bring the result and current drinking information.
Withdrawal is a separate safety question
NIAAA warns that suddenly stopping after prolonged heavy drinking can cause painful or life-threatening withdrawal. Seek medical help to plan a safe change if that may apply.
This warning depends on current drinking and health, not on the MAST total. Do not wait for a score label.
Other alcohol questionnaires use different rules
The CAGE has four lifetime questions and a 0-to-4 total. AUDIT is another alcohol questionnaire, but its scoring does not convert to MAST points.
Neither score converts to MAST points. Choose the questionnaire that matches the timeframe and decision, then keep its name with the result.
The bottom line
Use the MAST number as a weighted record from this 24-question form about mostly lifetime experiences. Read the answers and their timing, not a category label.