title: Toxicology and drugs of abuse testing at the point of care.
abstract: Point-of-care methods have been developed for the detection of abused drugs in urine. This article identifies substances, illicit and licit, that are targeted by testing for reasons of medical care, drugs policy, or law enforcement. The advantages and disadvantages of point-of-care testing, and clinical interpretation of test results, are discussed. Point-of-care breath alcohol analysis and its use as an alternative to laboratory blood measurement are also included.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000097:blood; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D014116:Toxicology
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D000431:Ethanol