Statistical examination of hair color as a potential biasing factor in hair analysis.

We review eight different data sets in this paper for the purposes of assessing the possibility that reported color of hair can produce a systematic bias in the interpretation of hair assays. We review studies or data sets that include heroin and its metabolites, cocaine and its metabolites, MDMA and its analogs, and amphetamine and methamphetamine. The studies have utilized a variety of different degrees of color categorization, ranging from the simple dichotomy of brown and black, to a high of 12 categories. The mean number of categories reported approaches 6 (mean = 5.875). There are a total of 2791 data points in this analysis. We utilize two major statistical techniques for assessing significance; one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference procedure. In circumstances were only dichotomous contrasts are possible, one-way analysis of variance is used. In contrasts involving three or more categorical groups, Tukey's procedure is used. In circumstances where the homogeneity of group variances is not sustained by the Levene statistic, we use the Tamahane procedure, allowing an assessment that assumes unequal variances. The analysis of this data fails to discern a significant color effect. We speculate that it may be that variance is large in many domains affecting analyte recovery from hair. In large groups these variations tend to regress towards a typical or mean value. Thus the data here show that while there are group or aggregate differences in these 'typical' values, they are not great when considered in relation to the within-group variations which exist for those values. It is our view that color may play a role in the accumulation of drugs in hair, however it is likely to account for only a very small part of the complex process of drug accumulation.

Developing a sociological framework for dually diagnosed women.

This exploratory study was conducted with the purpose of enumerating both particular social stressors (e.g., the presence of trauma) and the incidence of a comorbid diagnosis (i.e., personality disorder[s] and substance abuse) on a sample of women in a residential therapeutic community. The women in the study were assessed within the first 3 weeks following admission into drug treatment, and then again 6 months after leaving the program. The initial assessment generally took 2 hours and consisted of the Structured Clinical Inventory for DSM-III-R-Patient edition (SCID-II), Addiction Severity Index (ASI), and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II). Clinically significant scores on the MCMI-II antisocial and borderline personality scales were noted in this study. This study found women with histories of delinquent and/or criminal behavior before drug use were more likely to have used more types of drugs and have used multiple drugs together. These women also tended to have had a history of being abused, either emotionally, physically, or sexually. This group was also less successful on all outcome measures during 6-month follow-up. Moreover, the lifetime incidence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse reported for this group at the baseline assessment was high--57.1% emotional abuse, 48.9% physical abuse, and 39.7% sexual abuse. These results are consistent with the research literature that indicates abuse plays a central role in the development and chronic effect of personality disorders and, in particular, posttraumatic stress disorder.

Using hair analysis, urinalysis, and self-reports to estimate drug use in a sample of detained juveniles.

This paper reports select findings of a research project designed to estimate drug use prevalence in a youthful offender population using hair analysis as well as urine testing and interviewing. The project was carried out in Cleveland, Ohio, and Pinellas County, Florida. The findings are consistent with earlier reports on prevalence estimations utilizing a bioassay component. Generally, respondents report drug use infrequently and test positive by assays at rates greater than self-reported use. Urinalysis indicates more drug prevalence than does interview. Hair assays, which have a greater retrospective time window, show even more prevalence than does urine testing. The project affirms results reported in 1994 by Feucht, Stephens, and Walker.

Patterns of concordance between hair assays and urinalysis for cocaine: longitudinal analysis of probationers in Pinellas County, Florida.

This chapter reports on a field trial involving the application of hair assays to a probation population. The objectives were to evaluate the general reactions of probation officers and probationers to the collection of hair samples, to compare the outcomes of the hair samples with the outcomes of urinalyses (which the probationers undergo routinely), to note and react to differences in the prevalence as indicated by the two assay types, and to assess the general monitoring potential for hair assays in a correctional setting. In general, hair assays showed an increased capability of detecting cocaine exposure when compared to urinalysis. The detection of cannabis was, however, problematic for hair. The hair assays, using urine as a comparator, appeared to result in several apparent false negatives for cannabinoids. There were no false negatives for cocaine, and an approximately fourfold increase in the detection rate when compared to urine. The collection of hair samples was not difficult and the cooperation of the probationers was quite good. Probation officers appear to prefer the use of hair specimens to urine specimen collection, and appeared enthusiastic about the potential use of hair analysis in their routine monitoring of clients.

An evaluation of patterns of racial bias in hair assays for cocaine: black and white arrestees compared.

This article evaluates the hypothesis that hair assays for cocaine will evidence a racial bias. It compares the outcome of hair and urinalysis assays for cocaine metabolites in a group of white and a group of black arrestees in Pinellas County, Florida on whom detailed self-reported drug use is known. The findings indicate that although blacks test at higher positive rates than whites for both hair and urine assays, these differential most likely reflect differential rates of use of cocaine which is apparent from the self-reported data.