While IRT analysis has played a key role in the psychometric evaluation of health-related item banks for the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), it generally has not been used in research on screeners for SUDs to support the underlying construct of patient-reported measures. This paper demonstrates the unique value of IRT analysis in determining the underlying trait of a set of measures and elucidating item-level psychometric information to help interpret results of sensitivity and specificity. As a sound measure of patient-reported items is fundamental to assessing health conditions like SUD (Wu et al., 2009a), researchers should consider incorporating IRT approaches into their analysis plans to support the psychometric quality of patient-reported items. Finally, across five substances, two DSM-IV dependence items (taking large amounts, inability to cut down) are good candidates for harmonized common data elements in SUD screening in this large treatment-seeking sample, while withdrawal and time-spent in using the substance are poor candidates as they miss many cases of SUDs.
