By Joseph Hazan, M.D.,FACOG
Universal screening is now
being recommended to detect
extremely dangerous substance abuse.
This type of simple screening consists
of being alert to the fact that every segment
of the population is vulnerable to this problem.
About 10% of women age 14 to 44 actually
require treatment for addiction.
On the other hand only 15% of those women
are receiving this treatment.
That is because mostly this problem is
unrecognized and undetected.
Helpful screening can be accomplished
readily by utilizing questions at the
National Institute on Drug Abuse website
drugabuse.gov/nidamed.
Also American Society of Addiction Medicine
focuses on this issue . Their website is
asam.org.
Physicians can utilize brief intervention
and motivational interviewing, then refer
for treatment.
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