Validation of the tobacco, alcohol, prescription medication, and other substance use (TAPS) tool with the WHO alcohol, smoking, and substance Involvement screening test (ASSIST)

Gentry Carter; Ziji Yu; M Aryana Bryan; Jennifer L Brown; T Winhusen; Gerald Cochran

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107178

Validation of the tobacco, alcohol, prescription medication, and other substance use (TAPS) tool with the WHO alcohol, smoking, and substance Involvement screening test (ASSIST)

Addict Behav. 2022 Mar:126:107178. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107178. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Authors

Gentry Carter¹, Ziji Yu¹, M Aryana Bryan¹, Jennifer L Brown², T Winhusen³, Gerald Cochran¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Utah, Department of Internal Medicine, USA.
² University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, USA; University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychology, USA; Center for Addiction Research, University of Cincinnati, USA.
³ University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, USA; Center for Addiction Research, University of Cincinnati, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: Community pharmacies are emerging as a valuable setting to identify patients with substance use. Few tools have been specially validated to screen patients in these settings, particularly among those prescribed opioid medications. The goal of this study was to validate the performance of the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use (TAPS) tool in community pharmacy settings compared to a reference-standard substance use assessment.

Methods: Participants were recruited while receiving opioid medications (not solely buprenorphine) from 19 pharmacies from a large national chain in Ohio and Indiana. Adults who were not involved in the criminal justice system or receiving cancer treatment were invited to participate in a one-time, cross-sectional, self-administered, health survey which included the TAPS tool. Substance use risks calculated from the TAPS tool were compared with the reference standard, World Health Organization Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) using confusion matrices. We calculated Areas Under the Curve (AUC) of Receiver Operating Characteristics Curves (ROC) to evaluate the TAPS tool's validity.

Results: The TAPS tool showed fair or better discrimination between moderate-risk use and high-risk use for tobacco, alcohol, and prescription opioids (AUCs: 0.75-0.97 and fair or better discrimination between low-risk and moderate-risk use in five of eight subscales, including tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, and heroin (AUCs: 0.70-0.92).

Conclusion: The TAPS tool detected clinically relevant problem substance use in several drug classes and likely would be a valuable assessment for screening illicit drug use among community pharmacy patients prescribed opioid medications.

Keywords: Community pharmacy intervention; Opioid use; Screening; Substance use disorders; Unhealthy substance use.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adult
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Mass Screening
Nicotiana*
Prescriptions
Primary Health Care
Smoking
Substance-Related Disorders* / diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders* / epidemiology
World Health Organization

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding