Family doctors and pediatricians may want to screen teenagers for drug and alcohol abuse whenever teens go to their doctors and not just during routine check-ups, according to a new study from the Children's Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Knight and his colleagues found that 23% of 2,133 teens in his study screened positive when they were at the doctor because of illness or injury. Only 11% screened positive during routine check-ups.
"Screening should occur whenever there is an opportunity and not just during well-child visits," said Dr. John Knight, director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research.

Doctors argue that there is not enough time during a typical fifteen-minute doctor's visit to do such assessments. Dr. Knight counters by saying his six-question test takes only a few minutes.

This study appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

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Labels: advice, assessment, drug_testing