Importance of Risk Assessment for Substance Use in Patients
Patients arriving at a hospital may present with various health issues and require careful assessment upon admission. Systematic and continuous data collection about patient health is critical as it helps establish the cause of harm, develop an appropriate decision-making framework and a care plan, and enable precautions. It is imperative to perform a risk assessment for alcohol and drug abuse, as various substances can cause serious harm to one’s health and interfere with prescription medication. This paper is dedicated to the risk assessment for substance use of patients presenting with slurred speech.
Tools to Assess Risk of Substance Use in a Patient with Slurred Speech
Substance use risk assessment is a complex and lengthy process. It is aimed at determining whether a patient engages in the recreational use of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, the substances used, the degree of addiction, and the consequent mental, physical, and social problems (Willacy, 2021). It should be noted that any acute injury or threat to health should be addressed before a risk assessment for substance use can be carried out to ensure the patient is lucid and can answer questions (Willacy, 2021). Although it cannot technically be considered a screening tool, the assessment should commence with collecting patient history, including the type of drug taken, quantity and frequency of use, and sources (Willacy, 2021). The patient history can help identify what screening or monitoring tools should be employed for the specific client.
Several tools can be implemented to evaluate a patient for alcohol or drug consumption. Some of the tools can be utilized to screen for various substances, while others are designed to assess for specific types of drugs. For example, the Brief Screener for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (BSTAD) can be applied to evaluate clients for the use of different substances (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2023). Meanwhile, the Opioid Risk Tool (ORT) and Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth are designed for screening for opioids and alcohol misuse (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2023; Ducharme & Moore, 2019). Numerous other screening and monitoring tools are available both for clinicians and patients in the event of a need for self-diagnosis.
References
Ducharme, J., & Moore, S. (2019). Opioid Use Disorder Assessment Tools and Drug Screening. Missouri Medicine, 116(4), 318–324. Web.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2023). Screening and assessment tools chart. Web.
Willacy, H. (2021). Assessment of drug dependence. Drug addiction assessment. Patient. Web.
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