DRUGS OF ABUSE: 6 DRUGS URINE SCREEN

URINE DRUG SCREEN (UDS) TESTING CAN INCREASE WORKPLACE SAFETY, DETECT DRUG ABUSE, MONITOR PATIENTS COMPLIANCE WITH PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS, AND ASSESS SUSPECTED DRUG INGESTIONS. THERE ARE SEVERAL LIMITATIONS THAT CLINICIANS SHOULD BE AWARE OF WHEN INTERPRETING UDS RESULTS. EACH ANALYTE OF THE UDS HAS A CUTOFF OF SPECIFIED URINE METABOLITE ABOVE WHICH THE TEST WILL BE POSITIVE. THESE CUTOFF LIMITS ARE DEVELOPED FOR WORKPLACE TESTING TO DECREASE FALSE POSITIVES (I.E. INCREASE SPECIFICITY) GIVEN THE LARGE VOLUME OF EMPLOYMENT TESTING PERFORMED. IT IS POSSIBLE (DEPENDING ON DOSE, PHARMACOKINETIC ELIMINATION PATTERNS, AND TIMING OF LAST EXPOSURE) FOR A PATIENT TO HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO A SUBSTANCE AND HAVE A NEGATIVE URINE DRUG TEST. CONVERSELY, IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO BE AWARE THAT SOME COMPONENTS OF IMMUNOASSAYS LACK SPECIFICITY AND ARE PRONE TO FALSE POSITIVE RESULTS. OTHER LIMITATIONS INVOLVE UNDERSTANDING THAT DETECTION TIMES IN THE URINE VARY SIGNIFICANTLY BASED ON MULTIPLE FACTORS IN