Drug use, self report and urinalysis

Stimulated by the ever present demand to consider the financial implications in management decisions, this study examines the use of urinalysis and self-report in the treatment of drug users, to question if urinalysis, rather than being a routine investigation, could be used with greater discrimination without jeopardising its effectiveness. It concludes that urinalysis remains of importance, as an adjunct to self-report, in providing information and in the treatment of drug users. Suggestions are made as to how it might be used more selectively in treatment based on a clinical knowledge of individual patients and their progress in treatment. However further research is needed to support and define this more clearly.