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 New Drug Abuse Screening Tools
The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a new set of tools to help primary care clinicians screen patients for misuse of prescription drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs. Called NIDAMED, the tool set was adapted from the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test originally published by the World Health Organization. The new tool set aims to be easy to use and incorporate into a busy primary care practice.
According to public health experts, more than 16 million Americans took a prescribed drug—an analgesic, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative—for a nonmedical reason in 2007. They add that primary care professionals are in a unique position to discuss drug-taking behaviors with patients. The NIDAMED tool set gives professionals a way to identify these unhealthy behaviors before they evolve into serious or life-threatening problems.
NIDAMED includes an interactive online screening tool to be used during routine office visits, a quick reference guide, and a comprehensive resource guide with detailed instructions for using the tool and responding to the results. The kit also includes postcards that urge patients to "Tell your doctors about all the drugs you use." Also available is a newly updated publication called Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment that outlines the 13 evidence-based principles of effective treatment.
The screening toolkit and Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment can be found at www.drugabuse.gov.
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