CONCORDANCE BETWEEN URINALYSIS RESULTS AND SELF-REPORTED DRUG-USE BY APPLICANTS FOR METHADONE-MAINTENANCE IN AUSTRALIA

This study examined concordance between self-reported drug use and uri nalysis data among 341 applicants for methadone treatment in Sydney, A ustralia. Rates of underreporting of use of specific drugs were low (0 % to 10%). Irregular drug use, short half-life of some abused drugs, a nd relatively low sensitivity of the TLC assay procedure led to most d etected drugs being found in only one of two urine samples collected. Subjects reported having recently used nearly twice as many drugs as w ere detected in their urine. Agreement (kappa) between self-report and urinalysis results was in the fair to good range for most drugs. None of the six predictors of misreporting examined were found to be of pr actical value.