A comparison of random and post-accident urine opiate and opioid tests

Abstract

Opioid use is associated with poor reaction time, attention, balance and memory posing a potential threat to workplace safety. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a statistical association between opiate/opioid use and work related accidents as measured by urine drug tests by comparing the proportion of opiate/opioid laboratory positive urine specimens for postaccident verses random samples. The prevalence of laboratory positive opiate/opioid tests, the odds ratio, Fisher's exact probability test and the population attributable risk were calculated for each comparison. This study found a statistically significant difference for opiate/opioid results favoring the post-accident group.

Keywords: Opiate; impairment; opioid; prescription drug use; urine drug test; workplace accidents.