Validity of the self-report on drug use by university students: correspondence between self-reported use and use detected in urine.

The purpose of this work was to determine the validity of a self-report on recent drug use (cocaine and cannabis) in a sample of university students of both sexes and to explore the role of attitudes toward substance use as related to this report. The subjects (506) were volunteers aged 17-35 years (who received an economic incentive) recruited at the University of Almeria (Spain). The results were analyzed on the basis of correspondence between the self-report of recent use and a urine test. Three logistic regression analyses between self-reported use and attitudes toward drugs were also performed. The results show that the convergent validity of the self-report of drug use and the urine test is quite satisfactory, with percentages of agreement varying from .89 to .98 and Kappa of .66 and .56 for cannabis and cocaine, respectively. Sensitivity of the self-report is 57.1% (cocaine) and 91.8% (cannabis), and specificity is 99.4% (cocaine) and 89.6% (cannabis). The differences found in correspondence between the two substances are discussed with regard to self-reported attitudes on drug use. Validez del autoinforme del uso de drogas en estudiantes universitarios: correspondencia entre el autoinforme y el uso detectado en orina. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido comprobar la validez del autoinforme del consumo reciente de drogas (cannabis y cocaina) en una muestra de jovenes universitarios de ambos sexos y explorar el papel de las actitudes hacia el consumo en relacion al informe de este. Los sujetos (506) fueron voluntarios (recibiendo un incentivo economico) con edades entre 17-35 anos, captados de la Universidad de Almeria (Espana). Los resultados se analizaron a partir de las correspondencias entre el autoinforme del consumo reciente y el test de orina. Tambien se realizaron tres analisis de regresion logistica entre el consumo autoinformado y las actitudes hacia las drogas. Los resultados senalan que la validez convergente del autoinforme de consumo de drogas con el test de orina es bastante buena, con porcentajes de acuerdo que oscilan entre 0.89 y 0.98, y valores Kappa de 0.66 y 0.56 para el cannabis y cocaina, respectivamente. La sensibilidad del autoinforme es de 57.1% (cocaina) y 91.8% (cannabis), y la especificidad es de 99.4% (cocaina) y 89.6% (cannabis). Las diferencias encontradas en las correspondencias entre las dos sustancias se discuten en relacion a las actitudes informadas por los sujetos en relacion al consumo de drogas.

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