Improving the Efficiency of Drug Use Disorder Screening in Psychiatric Settings: Validation of a Single-Item Screen

Abstract BACKGROUND: Co-occurring drug use disorders are under-detected in psychiatrically ill populations highlighting the need for more efficient screening tools. OBJECTIVES: This study compares a single-item screening tool, previously validated in a primary care setting, to the 10-item Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) for identifying co-occurring drug use disorders among patients with severe psychiatric illness. METHODS: A total of 395 patients attending a psychiatric partial hospital program completed both the single-item screen and DAST-10. A subsample of consecutive patients (n = 67) was also administered the Structure Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-IV) as a diagnostic reference standard. RESULTS: Concordance between screening measures was moderate (κ = 0.4, p