title: The usefulness and reliability of a drug severity scale.
abstract: This paper reports on the interrater reliability of a previously developed method for measuring severity of multidrug use. This method is based on interviewer's ratings of the number of different drugs used, the frequency of use, and the length of use of each drug. The results show that relatively unsophisticated raters in comparison with trained and experienced raters are able to utilize the drug severity form with a minimum of error.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008722:Methods; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*