Eighty-nine of 178 consecutively admitted inpatients were administered
the substance abuse sections of the Structured Clinical Interview for
DSM-III-R--Patient Version (SCID-P). Patients also provided a urine sample
for toxicologic analysis. In addition, primary clinicians assigned
admission and discharge diagnoses. Test characteristics (e.g., sensitivity)
for confirming a current diagnosis of psychoactive substance abuse were
calculated for each measure and compared. Urine toxicology analyses and
admission and discharge diagnoses were significantly less accurate in
diagnosing psychoactive substance abuse than the SCID-P. This finding
indicates that substance abuse is frequently not noted during routine
admission and discharge assessments.Abstract Teaser