Abstract Introduction Despite the association of meth/amphetamine use with risk for unintentional injury and interpersonal violence, screening for meth/amphetamine use among injured patients treated at trauma centers is not required. Methods Using data from the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Programs dataset, we examined the prevalence of meth/amphetamine positivity on urine drug screen and its association with clinical outcomes at 873 trauma centers. Results Of 4.5 million adult trauma patients, 1.5 million (33%) received a urine drug screen of which 11% were positive for meth/amphetamines with rates increasing from 9% in 2017 to 12% in 2022. Prevalence among those screened varied widely across trauma centers (interquartile range 4%-16%). Patients who screened positive for meth/amphetamine presented with more severe injuries and required longer hospitalizations. Conclusion Our findings indicate that meth/amphetamine use is common among trauma patients, with a prevalence several times higher than national averages. For this population, improved screening and intervention for meth/amphetamine use disorder at US trauma centers may represent an opportunity to prevent reinjury and improve the health of patients and their communities.
Rook et al. (Sat,) studied this question.