A simple, in-office screening tool might help to identify patients with clinically relevant substance use problems. A study of the new Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use (TAPS) screening tool found that it had good sensitivity and specificity for identifying problem use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. Findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Substance use, a leading cause of illness and death, is under-identified in medical practice. The TAPS tool consists of a 4-item screen for tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, and nonmedical use of prescription medications, followed by a substance-specific assessment of risk level for individuals with positive screening results. Researchers conducted a large multisite study to assess the performance of the TAPS tool compared with a reference standard measure in adult primary care patients. They found that it was effective for identifying problem use of substances most commonly used by primary care patients. For substances encountered less frequently, TAPS sensitivity and specificity estimates were lower and less precise. Further refinement may be needed before TAPS could be used to screen for substance use disorders.
Article: Performance of the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance Use (TAPS) Tool for Substance Use Screening in Primary Care Patients, Jennifer McNeely, Li-Tzy Wu, Geetha Subramaniam, Gaurav Sharma, Lauretta A. Cathers, Dace Svikis, Luke Sleiter, Linnea Russell, Courtney Nordeck, Anjalee Sharma, Kevin E. O'Grady, Leah B. Bouk, Carol Cushing, Jacqueline King, Aimee Wahle, Robert P. Schwartz, Annals of Internal Medicine, doi:10.7326/M16-0317, published online 6 September 2016.