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From: TAM MD
Password: orange
Date: 19 Aug 2009
Time: 11:15:05 -0700
Remote Name: 99.55.133.230
I have been asked to review urine EtG tests on junior high and high school students in our county using a cutoff level of 500 ng/ml. The lab will confirm screened positive results with LC/MS. From what I can tell both the sensitivity and specificity of the test is around 98%. Based on a recent SAMSHA survey which reports the prevalence of alcohol use in 12-14 yo as 7% and 15-17 yo as 27.5%, my calculations would place the positive predictive value of this test at around 79% in the junior high population and 95% in the high school population. My question is how comfortable are you in reporting positive results in these two populations? The ramification of a positive result in this case is the loss of extracurricular activities for the year