PUBH621 Epidemiology

The CEO has located a company that offers workplace drug and alcohol screening on site. The company claims that the screening results are 95% accurate. The CEO is considering using this organisation to screen all employees once a month. She approaches you to discuss the benefits and downsides of drug and alcohol screening on all employees in general, and specifically using the test that this company is advertising.

As the Workplace Health Advisor, you are to write a report that critically evaluates drug and alcohol screening programs generally, and the likely implications of such a program in this specific workplace. Your report is to address the following:

1) What would you advise the CEO about the benefits and downsides to screening all employees in this organisation each month? You should include in your advice the issues with screening programmes in general, as well as the specifics of this screening programme.

2) The CEO is excited by this company’s test accuracy. What would you say to the CEO regarding this companies claim to be 95% accurate?

3) You decide to do some further investigation into drug and alcohol screening tests and find a company whose test has shown to be quite reliable, with a 95% sensitivity, and 86% specificity.

a. How would you explain these results to the CEO?

b. Based on other workplace screening programs, you anticipate a 0.001% prevalence of drug and/or alcohol in your workplace. Based on these values, calculate the positive and negative predictive values if you were to use this test in your workplace. Provide an interpretation of these values in a language that would be appropriate to report back to the CEO.

c. Would you recommend the use of this test as a monthly screening test in your workplace? Why/Why not?