TETERBORO, N.J., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Workplace drug use increased
during 2000, reversing a steady, decade-long decline, according to the
semi-annual Drug Testing Index released today by Quest Diagnostics
Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the leading provider of employer drug testing
services in the United States.
From 1988, when the survey began, through the end of 1999, the annual
positivity rate-the proportion of positive test results to all drug tests
performed by Quest Diagnostics-declined from 13.6% to 4.6%. However, during
2000, the overall positivity rate increased slightly to 4.7%. All of the
increase in positivity occurred in the general U.S. workforce, which excludes
federally-mandated, safety-sensitive workers, such as pilots, bus and truck
drivers and workers in nuclear power plants, for whom routine drug testing is
mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. The positivity rate among federally mandated, safety-sensitive
workers continued to decline in 2000 to 3.1% from 3.2% in 1999. The
positivity rate for the general workforce increased from 4.8% to 4.9%.
"In the 13 years that we have been measuring drug use in the workplace,
this is the first time we have seen an increase in the rate of positivity,"
said R.H. Barry Sample, Ph.D., Director of Science and Technology for Quest
Diagnostics' Corporate Health and Wellness division. "This appears to be due
to an increase in drug use among current general workforce employees, mainly
among employees who are subject to random on-the-job drug testing."
The Drug Testing Index summarizes the results of workplace drug tests
performed between January and December, 2000 by Quest Diagnostics. The Drug
Testing Index looks at positivity rates among three major testing populations:
federally mandated, safety-sensitive workers; the general workforce; and the
combined U.S. workforce.
The positivity rate for the general workforce increased even more sharply
in three key segments of on-the-job drug testing: "for cause," which indicates
reasonable suspicion; "post-accident"; and "random drug testing." For these
three categories, the rate of positivity in the general workforce went up
9.1%. In contrast, the rate of positivity for these three categories declined
4.3% for federally-mandated, safety sensitive drug tests.
The incidence of cheating on drug tests declined during 2000, decreasing
52% from 1999, according to the Drug Testing Index. Cheating on drug tests
can involve the use of masking agents, or chemicals that are added to drug
testing specimens in an attempt to defeat the process of detecting drug use.
These agents include oxidizing adulterants, which include nitrites, as well as
bleach and pyridinium chlorochromate. Cheating can also involve the use of
"substituted" or "invalid" samples.
Color graphics of the Drug Testing Index, including regional maps which
show positivity rates by type of drug, are available on-line at
http://www.questdiagnostics.com to provide more localized workplace drug test
data. The Drug Testing Index is released every six months as a service for
government, media and industry, and is considered a benchmark for national
trends.
Quest Diagnostics is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing,
information and services with annual revenues of $3.4 billion in 2000. The
company's diagnostic testing yields information that enables health care
professionals and consumers to make better decisions to improve health. Quest
Diagnostics offers patients and physicians the broadest access to diagnostic
testing services through its national network of approximately 30 full-service
laboratories, 150 rapid response laboratories and more than 1,300 patient
service centers, where specimens are collected. Quest Diagnostics is the
leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based testing, and is the
leader in routine medical testing, drugs of abuse testing, and
non-hospital- based anatomic pathology testing. Through partnerships with
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and information technology companies, Quest
Diagnostics provides support to help speed the development of health care
insights and new therapeutics. Additional company information can be found on
the Internet at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com.
The Drug Testing Index(C) 2001 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. All rights
reserved.
(Tables follow)
Annual Positivity Rates
Year Drug Positive Rate
1988 13.6%
1989 12.7%
1990 11.0%
1991 8.8%
1992 8.8%
1993 8.4%
1994 7.5%
1995 6.7%
1996 5.8%
1997 5.0%
1998 4.8%
1999 4.6%
2000 4.7%
Positivity Rates By Testing Category
Testing
Category 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
Federally Mandated,
Safety-Sensitive
Workforce 3.1% 3.2% 3.4% 3.5% 3.6%
General Workforce4.9% 4.8% 5.0% 5.2% 6.4%
Combined U.S.
Workforce 4.7% 4.6% 4.8% 5.0% 5.8%
Positivity Rates By Testing Reason
(For Federally Mandated, Safety Sensitive Workforce)
(More than 800,000 tests from January to December 2000)
Testing Reason 2000 1999 1998 1997
For Cause 14.8% 14.0% 15.3% 14.4%
Periodic 1.1% 1.1% 1.4% 1.9%
Post-Accident 3.9% 3.7% 4.3% 4.3%
Pre-Employment 3.6% 3.7% 3.8% 3.8%
Random 2.4% 2.6% 2.7% 2.9%
Returned to Duty 3.8% 4.4% 4.8% 5.9%
Positivity Rates By Testing Reason
(For General Workforce)
(More than 5.5 million tests from January to December 2000)
Testing Reason 2000 1999 1998 1997
For Cause 25.7% 24.7% 25.3% 26.7%
Periodic 4.4% 4.5% 4.9% 5.2%
Post-Accident 5.9% 5.6% 6.4% 6.8%
Pre-Employment 4.5% 4.5% 4.6% 4.7%
Random 7.7% 6.9% 7.3% 8.3%
Returned to Duty 5.3% 5.5% 7.2% 6.1%
Positivity Rates By Drug Category
(For Federally Mandated, Safety-Sensitive Workforce, as a percentage of all
such tests)
(More than 800,000 tests from January to December 2000)
Drug Category 2000 1999 1998 1997
Amphetamines 0.27% 0.26% 0.25% 0.30%
Cocaine 0.64% 0.71% 0.78% 0.73%
Marijuana 1.92% 1.86% 1.87% 2.0%
Opiates 0.25% 0.27% 0.49% 0.53%
PCP 0.06% 0.05% 0.05% 0.04%
Oxidizing Adulterants
(incl. Nitrites) 0.10% 0.21% NA NA
Substitution 0.03% 0.03% NA NA
Positivity Rates By Drug Category
(For General U.S. Workforce, as a percentage of all such tests)
(More than 5.5 million tests from January to December 2000)
Drug Category 2000 1999 1998 1997
Amphetamines 0.25% 0.22% 0.20% 0.26%
Barbiturates 0.38% 0.44% 0.38% 0.35%
Benzodiazepines 0.55% 0.50% 0.55% 0.59%
Cocaine 0.73% 0.80% 0.91% 0.90%
Marijuana 3.29% 3.17% 3.17% 3.4%
Methadone 0.13% 0.08% 0.06% 0.07%
Opiates 0.27% 0.26% 0.50% 0.50%
PCP 0.02% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01%
Propoxyphene 0.36% 0.33% 0.29% 0.27%
Oxidizing Adulterants
(incl. Nitrites) 0.10% 0.23% NA NA
Substitution 0.03% 0.04% NA NA
Positive Results By Drug Category
(For Federally Mandated, Safety-Sensitive Workers, as a percentage of all
positives)
(More than 800,000 tests from January to December 2000)
Drug Category 2000 1999 1998 1997
Acid/Base 0.16% 0.46% -- --
Amphetamines 8.3% 7.7% 7.1% 8.1%
Cocaine 19.6% 21.2% 22.3% 20%
Marijuana 60.2% 56.9% 54.7% 56%
Oxidizing Adulterants
(incl. Nitrites) 1.4% 3.1% 0.32% NA
Opiates 7.8% 8.0% 14% 15%
PCP 1.7% 1.6% 1.6% 1.2%
Substituted 0.77% 0.96% -- --
Positive Results By Drug Category
(For Combined U.S. Workforce, as a Percentage of All Positives)
(More than 6.5 million tests from January to December 2000)
Drug Category 2000 1999 1998 1997
Acid/Base 0.08% 0.16% -- --
Amphetamines 5.1% 4.5% 4.0% 4.9%
Barbiturates 3.2% 3.4% 3.0% 3.0%
Benzodiazepines 3.9% 3.1% 3.4% 3.9%
Cocaine 14.4% 16.2% 17.6% 16%
Marijuana 62.8% 62.2% 59.2% 60%
Methadone 0.82% 0.42% 0.36% 0.41%
Methaqualone 0.00% 0.00% 0.0007% 0.0002%
Oxidizing Adulterants
(incl. Nitrites) 0.92% 1.7% 0.63% NA
Opiates 5.4% 5.3% 9.7% 9.4%
PCP 0.56% 0.44% 0.37% 0.34%
Propoxyphene 2.3% 1.8% 1.7% 1.6%
Substituted 0.58% 0.81% -- --
SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
CONTACT: Gary Samuels, Media, +1-201-393-5700, or Cathy Doherty,