Protocol - Post-acute withdrawal signs and symptoms - Craving

Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS)

Please read each item carefully and circle the number that best describes your craving during the past week.

1. During the past week how often have you thought about drinking or about how good a drink would make you feel?

0[ ]Never (0 times during the past week)

1[ ]Rarely (1 to 2 times during the past week)

2[ ]Occasionally (3 to 4 times during the past week)

3[ ]Sometimes (5 to 10 times during the past week or 1 to 2 times per day)

4[ ]Often (11 to 20 times during the past week or 2 to 3 times per day)

5[ ]Most of the time (20 to 40 times during the past week or 3 to 6 times per day)

6[ ]Nearly all the time (more than 40 times during the past week or more than 6 times per day)

2. At its most severe point, how strong was your craving during the past week?

0[ ]None at all

1[ ]Slight, that is a very mild urge

2[ ]Mild urge

3[ ]Moderate urge

4[ ]Strong urge, but easily controlled

5[ ]Strong urge and difficult to control

6[ ]Strong urge and would have drunk alcohol if it were available

3. During the past week how much time have you spent thinking about drinking or about how good a drink would make you feel?

0[ ]None at all

1[ ]Less than 20 minutes

2[ ]21 to 45 minutes

3[ ]46 to 90 minutes

4[ ]90 minutes to 3 hours

5[ ]Between 3 to 6 hours

6[ ]More than 6 hours

4. During the past week how difficult would it have been to resist taking a drink if you had known a bottle were in your house?

0[ ]Not difficult at all

1[ ]Very mildly difficult

2[ ]Mildly difficult

3[ ]Moderately difficult

4[ ]Very difficult

5[ ]Extremely difficult

6[ ]Would not be able to resist

5. Keeping in mind your responses to the previous questions, please rate your overall average alcohol craving for the past week.

0[ ]Never thought about drinking and never had the urge to drink

1[ ]Rarely thought about drinking and rarely had the urge to drink

2[ ]Occasionally thought about drinking and occasionally had the urge to drink

3[ ]Sometimes thought about drinking and sometimes had the urge to drink

4[ ]Often thought about drinking and often had the urge to drink

5[ ]Thought about drinking most of the time and had the urge to drink most of the time

6[ ]Thought about drinking nearly all of the time and had the urge to drink nearly all of the time

Scoring Instructions

Each response is scored from 0 to 6. Items are added together to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater levels of alcohol craving. Craving and other alcohol use disorder symptoms were scored categorically as absent, subclinical, or present. An average item score below 3 (total < 15) indicates mild craving and was categorized as symptom absent. An average item score below 4 (total 15–20) indicates moderate craving and was categorized as subclinical. An average item score above 4 (total > 20) indicates strong craving and was categorized as symptom present.