Clinical application of ethyl glucuronide testing in the U.S. Army

This study examined the clinical characteristics of ethyl glucuronide testing among service members referred to a military substance abuse program. The authors analyzed 1,852 urine specimens from 328 service members collected over a two year period. Among all participants, approximately one-fifth (n = 45/262, 17.2%) produced a positive ethyl glucuronide result at the initial assessment. Nearly two-thirds (n = 29/45, 64%) of the service members who initially tested positive had at least one additional positive specimen during the next five sequential tests. A statistically significant decline (p = 0.017) in ethyl glucuronide levels occurred with serial testing over time. The authors suggest that ethyl glucuronide testing can join with other risk mitigation strategies to help reduce alcohol-related adverse incidents.