Rates of and Factors Associated With Patient-reported Illicit Drug Use Screening by Health Care Professionals in the United States From 2013 to 2015

by | Addiction

https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/Abstract/publishahead/Rates_of_and_Factors_Associated_With.99359.aspx

Comment; So about half of our patients are being screened for substance abuse. That seems like a lot of time spent screening that could be spent better on other things–so much is demanded of PCP’s!


Scialli, Anna C., MPH, MSW; Terplan, Mishka, MD, MPHJournal of Addiction Medicine: April 2, 2019 – Volume Publish Ahead of Print – Issue – pdoi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000537Original Research: PDF OnlyBUYPAP

Objectives: To examine rates of and factors associated with patient-reported illicit drug use screening by health care professionals.

Methods: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), limited to individuals who reported prior year healthcare service utilization, was used to capture the odds of patient-reported illicit drug use screening for survey years 2013 to 2015. Screened patients were contrasted with those not screened by demographic and behavioral characteristics. Adjusted models were produced by year and adjusted odds ratios were compared for changes across years. A separate adjusted model including year as a fixed effect was produced to estimate changes in overall adjusted screening odds.

Results: The percentage of individuals reporting screening by a health care provider increased from 48.5% in 2013 to 50.9% (2014), and 54.3% (2015) (P < 0.0001). The adjusted model, including year as a fixed effect, indicated that the odds of screening significantly increased from 2013 to 2015. In multivariable regression, individuals reporting screening were more likely to be female, of higher income and educational strata, and received drug or alcohol treatment in the past year and were less likely to be non-Hispanic Asian.

Conclusions: Only roughly half of individuals seen by a healthcare provider report illicit drug use screening. Racial disparities in screening persist although they are overall decreasing. Coupling screening with treatment initiation, rather than brief intervention, may increase screening rates.

Dr. Raymond Oenbrink
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