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Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

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Reliability <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Questi<strong>on</strong>s<br />

Still another possibility is that <strong>on</strong>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> these questi<strong>on</strong>s is unreliable. This<br />

explanati<strong>on</strong> essentially can be discounted, however, because year after<br />

year both the M<strong>on</strong>itoring the Future study and The American Drug and<br />

Alcohol Survey obtain rates from successive samples <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> seniors that are<br />

within a percentage point or two <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the previous year’s results. It is<br />

unlikely this c<strong>on</strong>sistency would exist if either questi<strong>on</strong> were unreliable.<br />

When survey results are so dependent <strong>on</strong> the form <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the questi<strong>on</strong>, it is<br />

hard to determine exact rates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> use. One soluti<strong>on</strong> might be to average<br />

results from different formats <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the questi<strong>on</strong>s; another might be to use<br />

the highest rate since that indicates the possible maximum level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

exposure. Further studies are required to determine exactly why young<br />

people are apparently interpreting these very similar questi<strong>on</strong>s differently.<br />

The magnitude <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> reported inhalant use prevalence, however, is such that<br />

choosing a particular number for the rate <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> inhalant use may not be <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

critical importance. Although the differences between surveys are not<br />

small <strong>on</strong>es, if either rate were chosen as the “true” figure, it would lead to<br />

essentially the same c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s in terms <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> policy, preventi<strong>on</strong>, or<br />

treatment planning. Whether the “true” rate is 11 percent or 17 percent,<br />

there is entirely too much experimentati<strong>on</strong> by youth with inhalants, and<br />

effective preventi<strong>on</strong> efforts are needed to reduce this exposure.<br />

Another illustrati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> how even a simple change to a questi<strong>on</strong> may alter<br />

results significantly comes from the M<strong>on</strong>itoring the Future study’s<br />

questi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> nitrites. Until 1986, the questi<strong>on</strong> asked was, “On how many<br />

occasi<strong>on</strong>s (if any) have you used amyl or butyl nitrites (poppers,<br />

snappers, Locker Room, Vaporole, Rush, Kick, Bullet)?” After 1987, the<br />

list <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> examples was removed. Figure 1 shows that, although generally<br />

there has been a relatively steady decline in nitrite use, there is a<br />

c<strong>on</strong>siderably larger drop in the rate <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> use between 1986 and 1987. Some<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> that change probably is due to the change in the questi<strong>on</strong>.<br />

Clearly, it is very important to be aware that resp<strong>on</strong>ses to inhalant<br />

questi<strong>on</strong>s are likely to vary if the questi<strong>on</strong>s are even slightly different.<br />

While prevalence rates obtained from different survey questi<strong>on</strong>s might be<br />

compared for drugs such as marijuana, this is not true for inhalants. This<br />

has particular importance in comparing rates from different populati<strong>on</strong>s,<br />

where err<strong>on</strong>eous c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s might lead to inappropriate policy<br />

decisi<strong>on</strong>s. It also is indicative <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the importance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> maintaining the same<br />

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