Abstract

The acute or chronic harmful use of alcohol is among the top five risk factors for disease, disability and death worldwide.1 Monitoring alcohol consumption is an important aspect of the management of alcohol-use disorders and may include subjective self-reported questionnaires or objective tests.1,2–6 Such tests include measuring alcohol or alcohol metabolite levels or biomarkers such as liver enzymes or red cell indices.2–6 Carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is a biomarker used for assessing chronic alcohol misuse.6 Here, we review CDT and its place in the assessment of chronic alcohol use.