The situation with Angela requires the use of addiction assessment tools. The client has several interlocking conditions, and a clinical assessment tool may lead to confusion since it is likely to accumulate much raw data that will need interpretation. Additionally, clinical assessment tools provide information with the focus on the physical condition of the patient, which seem irrelevant in the situation. While such tools are appropriate for the diagnosis of comorbid conditions, the primary goal in the described scenario is to confirm or disprove Terrance’s supposition about Angela’s substance abuse (Samet et al. 20). Therefore, the use of addiction assessment tools is imperative in this situation.
Terrance is to use two assessment tools: the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). DAST-10 is a ten-item yes/no questionnaire that evaluates a client’s involvement with drugs, not including alcoholic beverages (“Drug Use Questionnaire” 4). Since the screening tool does not provide any insight on alcohol misuse, it is to be complemented with an additional source of information. AUDIT is a simple way to screen and identify people at risk of alcohol problems (“Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test” 1). It includes ten multiple choice questions and a score over eight signal about harmful drinking behavior. The two tools described above are optimal to help Terrance in the scenario.
Even though SAMSHA offers numerous substance abuse screening tests, the combination of these tools seems to be the most effective due to their simplicity, cost efficiency, and the amount of time they take to complete and evaluate. According to Rockne et al., the combination of these two tools allows to identify substance abuse disorder and provide timely intervention for at-risk patients (1187). Additionally, DAST-10 and AUDIT utilization “may reduce future medical disorders and hospitalizations associated with problematic substance use” (Rockne et al. 1188). In short, Terrance is recommended to use these two tools for a quick and low-cost assessment of Angela’s possible drug abuse problem.
Works Cited
“Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test.” SAMHSA-HRSA Center of Integrated Health Solutions, Web.
“Drug Use Questionnaire.” SAMHSA-HRSA Center of Integrated Health Solutions, Web.
Samet, Sharon, et al. “Assessing Addiction: Concepts and Instruments.”Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, vol. 4, no. 1, 2007, pp. 19-31, Web.
Rockne, Wendy Y. et al. “Identification of Substance Use Disorders in Burn Patients Using Simple Diagnostic Screening Tools (AUDIT/DAST-10).” Burns, vol. 45, no. 5, 2019, pp. 1182-1188. Web.