Psychometric and Diagnostic Properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST): Comparing the DAST-20 vs. the DAST-10

ABSTRACT

Background: The use of reliable and valid self-report questionnaires to identify drug use disorders (DUD) is a strategy that has shown usefulness for screening. One of the instruments more used for detection is the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST). The psychometric properties in the 20- and 10-item versions have been evaluated in other countries but in Mexico the psychometric and diagnostic properties of both versions are yet to be evaluated.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric and diagnostic properties of DAST-20 and -10.

Method: The sample included 565 participants receiving care in addiction residential centers. The DAST-20 was used as a measure to screen for DUD, and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0 was used as “gold standard” for the DUD diagnosis. Cronbach’s α and CFA were estimated in order to evaluate the psychometric properties. The Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to examine the diagnostic properties of each version.

Results: Both versions obtained a Cronbach’s α ≥ .80, an optimal goodness of fit for the one factor model and Areas Under the Curve ≥ .90 (95% CI 87-93) for both versions.

Discussion and Conclusion: DAST-20 and -10 versions are reliable and valid tools for DUD assessment and screening.