Marijuana use among HIV-positive and high-risk adolescents: A comparison of self-report through audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing and urinalysis

The validity of self-report of drug use has been found to vary widely. More over, previous research has focused on samples of adults. In 1998-1998, hum an immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adolescents and high-risk, noninfe cted adolescents (n = 182) were recruited at 16 locations in 13 US cities i nto the Reaching for Excellence in Adolescent Care and Health (REACH) proje ct, to the authors' knowledge, the first national study of disease progress ion among HIV-positive adolescents who were infected through sexual behavio r or injection drug use. Self-report of marijuana use was assessed through audio computer-assisted self-administered interviewing (ACASI). Urines were tested for marijuana at a certified laboratory by using the enzyme-multipl ied immunoassay technique. Conditional kappas for 2-, 5-, and 7-day self-re ports were 0.57, 0.71, and 0.69, respectively. Maximum sensitivity was obta ined from a combination of ACASI and urine drug testing. Contrary to previo us studies, the data suggest that if a single evaluative instrument is to b e used for prevalence, ACASI is more sensitive than urine drug testing for marijuana overall, but particularly for HIV-infected adolescents.