Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST)

Background

The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) was designed by Harvey A. Skinner in 1982 to provide a brief instrument for clinical substance use disorder screening and treatment evaluation research. The 28-item survey assesses an individual’s potential involvement with, and consequences related to drug misuse with simple yes/no questions. It evaluates the severity of issues associated with the nonmedical use of prescription, over-the-counter, or illicit drugs. A shorter version of the DAST, the DAST-10, is frequently used to cut down assessment time.

The DAST high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficients > 0.85), high re-test reliability and good construct validity. It has high test sensitivity (rarely misses individuals with a drug problem) and good specificity to rule out individuals that do not have a drug problem.

Procedure

Participants are asked to answer 28 questions (e.g., "Have you used drugs other than those required for medical reasons?") with a yes or a no response.

What it Measures

The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) assesses the severity of person's involvement with non-medical drugs

Psychological domains

• Substance Use Disorder: Harmful and excessive use of legal or illegal substances
• Drug Dependency: A physiological state where the body adapts to repeated substance use and requires higher and higher doses to avoid withdrawal
• Drug Withdrawal: Combination of physical and psychological symptoms that occur after stopping/reducing the use of a substance after heavy use

Main Performance Metrics

• Total Score: Sum of all 'yes' responses; a score of 6 is usually taken to be indicative of a drug problem

Psychiatric Conditions

The following patient groups are routinely screened with the

• Psychiatric Intake Patients
• Primary Care Patients
• Incarcerated and Intake Inmates

References

Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST).

---

Skinner, H.A. (1982). The drug abuse screening test. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 363–371.

Gavin, D. R., Ross, H. E., & Skinner, H. A. (January 01, 1989). Diagnostic validity of the drug abuse screening test in the assessment of DSM-III drug disorders. British Journal of Addiction, 84, 3, 301-7.

Staley, D., & el-Guebaly, N. (January 01, 1990). Psychometric properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test in a psychiatric patient population. Addictive Behaviors, 15, 3, 257-64.

Yudko, E., Lozhkina, O., & Fouts, A. (March 01, 2007). A comprehensive review of the psychometric properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 32, 2, 189-198.

Salehi, S. H., As'adi, K., Musavi, J., Ahrari, F., Nemazi, P., Kamranfar, B., Gaseminegad, K., ... Shoar, S. (January 01, 2012). Assessment of substances abuse in burn patients by using drug abuse screening test. Acta Medica Iranica, 50, 4, 257-64.

Grekin, E. R., Svikis, D. S., Lam, P., Connors, V., Lebreton, J. M., Streiner, D. L., Smith, C., ... Ondersma, S. J. (January 01, 2010). Drug use during pregnancy: validating the Drug Abuse Screening Test against physiological measures. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors : Journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 24, 4, 719-23.