USE OF PSYCHOMETRIC INSTRUMENT IN DRUG SCREENING

In Malaysia, urine drug test kit have long been practiced as one of the methods of screening for student of high school detected by drugs. Nevertheless, the use of this kit can only be implemented with the cooperation of the National Drug Agency (AADK). There are many of psychometric testing tools used to detect drug abuse especially to identify widespread drug use problems. To overcome this problem, Substance Abuse Substance Screening Inventory for Adolescent (SASSI-A2) was used in this study. The selection of SASSI-A2 is due to several factors, among which is the Instrument is able to classify respondents in four, Low Probability (LP), Low Probability Further Action (LPFA), Substance Abuse Disorder (SAD) and Substance Dependence Disorder (SDD).SASSI-A2 is a brief screening tool designed to identify individuals who have a high probability of having a substance use disorder, including both substance abuse and substance dependence. SASSI-A2 comprises of 72 items that are rated on a two point scale with response; true and false . SASSI-A2 was translated into Malay language and it was refined through a back-translation technique. In addition, this instrument is also easy to administer and takes a short time and cost savings. Since its release in 2001, SASSI-A2 has been recognized in about 2,500 programs across the United States and Canada and is now being used in Malaysia. Keywords: Drug Screening, Drug Abuse, High Risk, Psycometric Instrument