OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of false-positive benzodiazepine screens associated with sertraline use at the authors' institution. METHOD: Urine drug screen results spanning a two-year period were data mined to identify those positive for benzodiazepines. When confirmatory gas chromatography-mass spectrometry determined false positives, they were subsequently cross-referenced against pharmacy records to identify patients with active prescriptions for sertraline at the time of the initial urinary drug screen. RESULTS: Of the 522 records reviewed, 160 were later determined to be false positives by confirmatory gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sixty-two of those were associated with a concomitant benzodiazepine prescription. Of the 98 remaining, 26 were associated with a concomitant sertraline prescription. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that sertraline may be an unreported cause of false-positive benzodiazepine results in a widely used screening assay.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of false-positive benzodiazepine screens associated with sertraline use at the authors' institution. METHOD: Urine drug screen results spanning a two-year period were data mined to identify those positive for benzodiazepines. When confirmatory gas chromatography-mass spectrometry determined false positives, they were subsequently cross-referenced against pharmacy records to identify patients with active prescriptions for sertraline at the time of the initial urinary drug screen. RESULTS: Of the 522 records reviewed, 160 were later determined to be false positives by confirmatory gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sixty-two of those were associated with a concomitant benzodiazepine prescription. Of the 98 remaining, 26 were associated with a concomitant sertraline prescription. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that sertraline may be an unreported cause of false-positive benzodiazepine results in a widely used screening assay.
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Keywords:
benzodiazepines; false positive; screening assay; sertraline; urine drug screening