Validity of self-reported drug use in high risk populations: a meta-analytical review.
Research involving drug users and treatment evaluations continue to rely extensively on self-reports of drug use. This paper presents a meta-analytical review of 24 studies published since 1985 that examined the validity of drug self-reports in high risk populations. Only studies employing a biological criterion of validity (e.g., urinalysis, hair analysis) are included. Coefficients of chance-corrected agreement between self-reports and the validity criteria are calculated from published data to facilitate cross-study comparisons. The median conditional kappa (kappa c) was .42, considerably below the level of kappa c = .80 that represents acceptable reporting accuracy. The magnitude of drug use underreporting documented in this review could seriously bias prevalence estimates and treatment outcome studies.
Magura
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National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., New York, NY 10013, USA.
Kang
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D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D015982:Bias; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012650:Self Disclosure; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation