title: [Do urine tests for drugs of abuse cover the substances of interest?].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Norway several hundred thousand urine samples are analysed annually to reveal substance abuse. Our laboratory analyses substances with a potential of abuse in about 60,000 urine specimens annually. We wished to find out if our standard panel of analyses can detect most of these substances.
  
  
  METHODS
  In summer 2009, our department analysed ten substances that were not included in our standard test panel in all urine specimens received on an arbitrarily chosen weekday during five consecutive weeks. In addition, four other laboratories each sent 250 urine specimens to us to be analysed for the same ten substances.
  
  
  RESULTS
  1 854 urine specimens were analysed in total. Substances that were not covered by our standard test panel were detected in 123 samples (6.6 %): i.e. Pregabalin in 83 (4.5 %), methylphenidate in 33 (1.8 %), tramadol in four (0.2 %) and lorazepam in one (0.05 %) sample. The percentage of samples containing substances of abuse not covered by our standard test panel was: 20.8 % in Bergen, 9.8 % in Kristiansand, 8.0 % in Tromsø, 2.8 % in Oslo and 2.3 % in Trondheim.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that most drugs of abuse are detected by common routine urine analyses. Laboratories that offer analyses of drugs of abuse in urine should have methods available to detect pregabalin and methylphenidate in addition to or included in the standard panel.
authors.affiliation: Avdeling for klinisk farmakologi, St. Olavs hospital, 7006 Trondheim, Norway. roar.dyrkorn@legemidler.no
authors.forename: Roar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dyrkorn
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reimers
authors.forename: Ludvig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Johannessen
authors.forename: Olav
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Spigset
mesh_terms: D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009664:Norway; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000652:urine; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs