Measurement properties of quantitative urine benzoylecgonine in clinical trials research.
Psychometric data are presented which examine the validity of using the concentration of benzoylecgonine in urine, a major metabolite of cocaine, as a measure of drug use, in studies of drug abuse treatments. In such research the standard biological indicator of drug use is usually a qualitative urine drug test, which merely indicates the presence or absence of a drug or its metabolite. A quantitative (i.e. continuous) outcome measure, such as the concentration of a drug or its metabolite in a biological fluid, has substantially more statistical power than a dichotomous measure and should, therefore, prove a more sensitive measure of drug use when viewed from a measurement perspective. Data from two placebo-controlled clinical trials of fluoxetine as an adjunct to treatment for cocaine abuse are analyzed to address this issue. Results indicate that urine benzoylecgonine level is closely related to self-reports of drug use and is independent of levels of anxiety, depression and hopelessness.
Delucchi
K L
KL
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Jones
R T
RT
Batki
S L
SL
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000652:urine; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000652:urine; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009294:Narcotics / Q000652:urine*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000652:urine*
D015415:Biomarkers; D009294:Narcotics; C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003042:Cocaine