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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2010, 12, 1 (pages: 25 - 32)

Urine Labelling Marker System for Drug Testing Improves Patient Compliance

Simojoki K., Alho A.

Summary: Urine drug testing plays an important role in substance abuse treatments. When strictly controlled, as it often is, urine sampling creates a humiliating situation and ties up resources. A new sample labelling method has been developed to make supervision unnecessary. This innovation is achieved by labelling the urine with polyethylene glycols. In this study, 57 patients who required urine sampling were randomized into two groups, the traditional supervised (TS) group and the new marker (NM) group. The urine test return rate was 98.3% in the NM group and 100% in the TS group. Attempts to manipulate the urine samples were discovered in 2% of the NM group and 0% of the TS group. Most patients preferred the NM testing method. The personnel too preferred the NM system, and estimated that it reduced their workload dedicated to drug screening by 50%. We conclude that the NM method is more acceptable to patients and personnel, and may increase compliance as a result.