Two Brief Questions for Screening Alcohol and Drug Use Clients

Two brief questions can effectively screen for 80 percent of alcohol and drug use problems in clients aged 18 to 59 years.

In a recent study, Brown et al. (2001) demonstrated that at least one positive response to a two item conjoint screen (TICS) can detect current substance use disorders with nearly 80% accuracy.

The two questions are:

  1. In the last year, have you ever drunk or used drugs more than you meant to?
  2. Have you felt you wanted or needed to cut down on your drinking or drug use in the last year? 

Benefits of the TICS: Can be integrated into a health care assessment; provides an initial brief, inexpensive and nonintrusive screen for abuse; could facilitate further assessment and/or brief interventions.

Brown, R. L., Leonard, T., Saunders, L. A., & Papasouliotis, O. (2001) A two-item conjoint screen for alcohol and other drug problems. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 14(2): 95-106.