Effectiveness of screening instruments in detecting substance use disorders among prisoners

• Published in: Journal of substance abuse treatment Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 349 - 358
• Main Authors: Peters, Roger H., Greenbaum, Paul E., Steinberg, Marc L., Carter, Chris R., Ortiz, Madeline M., Fry, Bruce C., Valle, Steven K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2000
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Alcohol Abuse; Alcoholism - diagnosis; Alcoholism - psychology; Diagnosis; Drug Abuse; Drug abuse treatment; Humans; Inmates; Male; Mass Screening; Measures (Instruments); Middle Aged; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Prisoners; Prisoners - psychology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Screening; Substance Abuse; Substance Abuse Detection; Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis; Substance-Related Disorders - psychology; Inmates; Drug abuse; Screening; Alcohol abuse; Drug abuse treatment
• ISSN: 0740-5472; 1873-6483
• DOI: 10.1016/S0740-5472(99)00081-1

This study examined the effectiveness of several screening instruments in detecting substance use disorders among prison inmates. A sample of 400 male inmates were administered eight different substance abuse screening instruments and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV), Version 2.0, Substance Abuse Disorders module. The latter was used as a diagnostic criterion measure to determine the presence of substance use disorders. Based on positive predictive value, sensitivity, and overall accuracy, the Texas Christian University Drug Screen, the Simple Screening Instrument, and a combined instrument—Alcohol Dependence Scale/Addiction Severity Index-Drug Use section were found to be the most effective in identifying substance abuse and dependence disorders.