Substance use prevalence and screening instrument comparisons in urban primary care.

Substance use screening in a primary care setting compared the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST version 3.0), Two-Item Conjoint Screen (TICS), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) daily limit single item, and electronic medical record (EMR). Among 236 consecutive adults, ASSIST moderate- to high-risk substance use prevalence was tobacco, 15.3%; alcohol, 8.5%; cannabis, 5.1%; cocaine, 2.5%; and opioids, 2.5%. Compared to ASSIST, a positive TICS was 45% (95% confidence interval [CI], 27-64%) sensitive, 99% (95-100%) specific; the NIAAA single-item screen was 80% (56-94%) sensitive, 87% (82-91%) specific. The NIAAA single item correlated closely with alcohol ASSIST. TICS and EMR were less sensitive for any nontobacco substance use.