Presently, single-item screeners for “substance use” have been identified (Smith et al., 2009; Smith et al., 2010), but simplified screeners for SUDs are lacking. Our results suggest that several dependence criteria are candidate common data elements that can be used to that end as they not only meet the principles of brevity and standardization but also distinguish between cases and non-cases of a SUD (abuse or dependence). For example, regardless of substance, a positive response to a dependence criterion (e.g., taking large amounts, inability to cut down, tolerance, medical/psychological problems) detected a high proportion of substance users with a SUD (abuse or dependence). The consistency in results and high levels of specificity support use for assessing SUDs. The next step would be to identify a brief set of dependence items (with or without combining alcohol and drugs) that can be used to screen for that diagnosis in health care settings, particularly emergency rooms and mental health settings where SUDs are comparatively prevalent but under-detected and undertreated (Rockett et al., 2003; Tiet et al., 2008; Vinson et al., 2007).
