Comparison of point-of-collection screening of drugs of abuse in oral fluid with a laboratory-based urine screen

Oral fluid is becoming increasingly useful for the detection of drugs, sinc e it is a non-invasive specimen to collect and, because collection is direc tly observed, it is difficult to adulterate. A point-of-collection (POCT) o ral fluid drug analysis kit has been developed for use in many drug testing situations. This paper summarizes the results of field evaluations of the ORALscreen System for screening of drugs in oral fluid. The ORALscreen Syst em consists of an oral fluid collection device and a test device containing a lateral flow membrane immunoassay system. Paired samples (oral fluid and urine) were collected from drug users and the results from the ORALscreen (TM) POCT system were compared to urine screening results conducted in a li censed laboratory. The results demonstrate that the ORALscreen System has e xcellent percent agreement with the laboratory-based urine screening test r esults for the detection of cocaine and opiates through 2.5-3 days followin g drug use, respectively. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was detected by ORALsc reen on the day of use and 1 day after use. Good correlation between urine and oral fluid screening results was observed for the methamphetamine posit ive samples, however, the number of days following drug use was not determi ned. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.