title: Concordance of self-reported drug use and saliva drug tests in a sample of emergency department patients.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the concordance of self-reports of cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines, and the utility of these, with a saliva point of collection drug test, the DrugWipe 5+, in an emergency department (ED) setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A random sample of people admitted to either of two emergency departments at hospitals in British Columbia, Canada were asked to participate in an interview on their substance use and provide a saliva test for detection of drugs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Concordance of self-reports and drug tests were calculated. Prior DrugWipe 5+ sensitivity and specificity estimates were compared against a gold standard of mass spectrometry and chromatography (MS/GC). This was used as a basis to assess the truthfulness of self-reports for each drug.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1584 patients approached 1190 agreed to participate, a response rate of 75.1%. For cannabis, among those who acknowledged use only 21.1% had a positive test and 2.1% of those who reported no use had a positive test. For cocaine and amphetamines respectively, 50.0% and 57.1% tested positive among those reporting use, while 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively reported no use and tested positive. Self-reports of cannabis and amphetamines use appear more truthful than self-reports of cocaine use.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addictions Research of BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada, Professor, School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, BC.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA: 6475 Christie Avenue, Suite 400 Emeryville, CA 94608-1010, Centre for Addictions Research of BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada.
authors.forename: Cheryl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Cherpitel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addictions Research of BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada and Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, BC.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stockwell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addictions Research of BC, University of Victoria, BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addictions Research of BC, University of Victoria, BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada.
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishiguro
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addictions Research of BC, University of Victoria, BC: PO Box 1400 STNCSC Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vallance
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia: JPPN, Vancouver General Hospital, Room 3303 910 West 10th Ave, Vancouver, V5Z1M9, BC Canada.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brubacher
keywords: Saliva testing; illicit drug use; self-reports
references.citation: Ther Drug Monit. 2004 Apr;26(2):200-5
references.pmid: 15228165
references.citation: Int J Legal Med. 2011 Sep;125(5):675-83
references.pmid: 20652713
references.citation: Forensic Sci Int. 2005 Jun 10;150(2-3):161-4
references.pmid: 15944056
references.citation: J Anal Toxicol. 2011 May;35(4):211-8
references.pmid: 21513614
references.citation: Drug Alcohol Rev. 1997 Sep;16(3):251-9
references.pmid: 16203434
references.citation: Forensic Sci Int. 2011 May 20;208(1-3):173-9
references.pmid: 21183299
references.citation: Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2012 Feb 09;7:7
references.pmid: 22321198
references.citation: Addiction. 2007 Dec;102(12):1910-7
references.pmid: 17916224
references.citation: Eval Rev. 2009 Jun;33(3):211-25
references.pmid: 19351889
references.citation: Drug Alcohol Rev. 2008 Jan;27(1):99-107
references.pmid: 18034388