UCLA Study Recommends Routine Drug Screening as Part of Primary Care

Researchers found moderate-to-high drug use in patients living in both Los Angeles and Tijuana and have recommended drug screening as a part of primary care.

The study aim was to identify substance abuse in both Tijuana and Los Angeles and compare characteristics of patients at risk for substance abuse disorders. Data was collected from 2 community clinics in Los Angeles, with a total of 2507 adult participants, and 6 in Tijuana, with a total of 2890 participants, from March to October 2013. Participants anonymously completed the WHO Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) in waiting rooms.
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In Tijuana, 96.4% of the participants completed the ASSIST and 88.7% of participants completed the ASSIST in Los Angeles. The number of patients with moderate-to-high alcohol and substance abuse was higher in Los Angeles than in Tijuana. In Los Angeles, 19.4% of participants used drugs, 15.2% of participants used alcohol, and 20.4% used tobacco. In Tijuana, 5.7% used drugs, 6.5% used alcohol, and 16.2% used tobacco.

Patients born in Mexico but lived in Los Angeles were twice as likely to rank moderate-to-high on the ASSIST screening test, and patients born in Los Angeles in the United States were 6x as likely to rank as a moderate-to-high on ASSIST compared to patients born to Tijuana parents in Mexico.

Overall, Los Angeles had more patients scoring moderate-to-high on the ASSIST screening test than in Tijuana. “Rates are sufficiently high in both to suggest that screening for drug use (along with alcohol and tobacco use) should be integrated into routine primary care of community clinics in both cities,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Gelberg L, Rey GN, Anderson RM, et al. Prevalence of substance use among patients of community health centers in East Los Angeles and Tijuana [published online December 21, 2016]. Substance Use and Misuse. doi:10.1080/10826084.2016.1227848.