How accurate are Drug Tests at home?
At home drug testing kits are used for a variety of purposes. These at home drug tests can indicate if one or more prescription or illegal drugs are present in a person’s system. They are commonly used for pre-employment background checks, regular testing for those in addiction treatment recovery or even by concerned parents of a teen suspected of drug use. But, how accurate are drug tests at home?
With rapid advancements in medical technology, drug screening home tests have significantly evolved. In the past, drug testing required an individual to go to a clinic or lab. Now it can be done in the privacy of your own home.
Despite the evolution in at-home drug testing, they are still not 100% reliable. There are still limits on what it can tell you. It is still possible to have false positive results as well as false negative results. At home drug test kits are qualitative. It can detect the presence of drugs in your system. But it cannot tell you the specifics of the level of drugs in your system.
What are at Home Drug Tests?
At home drug testing kits can provide information about a person’s recent substance use by analyzing samples of a person’s urine, saliva or breath. They often test for substances of abuse or prescription medications that are taken for non-medical purposes.
Decades ago, testing for illicit substances was done in a clinic or lab. Today, tests can be easily purchased online and contain everything you need to test biological samples. They can check anywhere from five to fourteen different substances simultaneously.
They range in price and come in single-use as well as multi-drug test panels. At home test kits have been FDA-approved since 1997 and are available without a prescription.
Most high-quality test kits that are available are classified as Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waived rapid drug screens. This just means they are simple enough to use, carry a low risk of user error and provide a baseline level of clinical accuracy. They are specifically designed for at home use and rely on immunoassay technology. This type of test is a biochemical test that uses antibodies to detect the presence of a specific drug or its metabolites.
What types of Drugs can at home testing kits detect?
At home drug testing kits can typically detect the following substances
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- Opiates
- Methamphetamine
- Amphetamines
- PCP
- Benzodiazepines
- Barbiturates
- Methadone
- Antidepressants
- Ecstasy
- Oxycodone
Designer drugs, which consist of synthetic chemical ingredients, are more difficult for at home drug tests to detect. This is because their chemical makeup is constantly changing at a rate that drug testing kits cannot keep up with.
Types of at Home Drug Tests
- Urine test. Urine tests collect a sample of your urine in a container that can be analyzed at home using a test strip. It will change to a specific color if there is the presence of a certain drug.
- Saliva test. A saliva test involves taking a swab from the mouth, typically the inside of a person’s cheek. Sometimes these tests require the sample to be sent to the lab for the final result.
- Breath test. A breath test is often used for detecting substances like alcohol and can produce immediate results.
Factors that can impact accuracy for at Home Drug Tests
At home drug tests are not 100% accurate and there are several factors that can contribute to a false positive or false negative. When purchasing at home test kits, make sure to look for ones that have been FDA cleared due to evaluation on accuracy and ease of use. The FDA evaluates these products to ensure they meet strict manufacturing and performance standards to provide the best accuracy possible.
Most manufacturers claim that their products can be up to 99% accurate. But it is only true if the test kit is used exactly as detailed under the most ideal conditions.
Factors that impact test accuracy:
- The way you took the test and if specific instructions were followed
- The way you stored the testing kit packaging
- If you are taking other over-the-counter medications or prescription medications, as they can impact the accuracy of test results
- Whether or not you ate before taking the test, because certain foods can cause false positives
- Whether or not you drank before taking the test, because if you are dehydrated, the concentration of your urine can be too high, leading to a false positive
- You didn’t test within the proper detection window
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Drug Cutoff Levels
Home kits don’t just look for microscopic traces of substances; they also require strict drug screen cutoff levels. This cutoff level is the minimum concentration of a drug that must be present in the sample in order to trigger a positive result. The typical cutoff for a urine marijuana test shows the THC level to be around 50 nanograms per milliliter. If your sample contains even 1 nanogram per milliliter less, the test will register as a negative result despite the substance being present in the system.
Detection Windows for Drug Testing
The detection window and timeline for how long a substance will stay in your system is also an important factor in determining the accuracy of an at home drug test kit. The timeline for how long a drug can remain in your system depends on the substance and its concentration.
It takes time for drugs to appear in urine after you take them. They also don’t stay in your urine forever. It is possible to collect your drug sample too soon or too late. Drug clearance rates tell you how soon a person can test positive for a drug after taking it. It can also tell you how long a person can continue to test positive after the last dose of the drug.
Different drugs produce different clearance rates:
- Marijuana. A person can test positive after 1 to 3 hours and can continue to test positive up to 7 days after taking the drug.
- Cocaine. A person can test positive after 2 to 6 hours and can continue to test positive up to 3 days after taking the drug.
- Opioids. A person can test positive after 2 to 6 hours and can continue to test positive up to 3 days after taking the drug.
- Methamphetamine. A person can test positive after 4 to 6 hours and can continue to test positive up to 3 days after taking the drug.
Pros and Cons of Using a Drug Test at Home
Pros
- It offers the benefits of using simple and basic equipment and testing steps that can be performed with little experience
- Can be done in the comfort of your own home
- Tests can provide results within hours
- Test kits are inexpensive and easily accessible
Cons
- Tests require direct observation for sample collection to ensure occurrence
- Some people are bladder shy and will still have difficulty even at home
- Recently eating or drinking can impact accuracy
- Insurance doesn’t typically cover the costs of at home drug test kits
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Treatment for Substance Use Disorder
How accurate are drug tests at home? These test kits can provide valuable information, but they are not 100% accurate with some producing false positives or false negatives. Because of this, at home tests kits are technically not legally accepted. But they can be a reliable tool in substance use disorder treatment.
Professional behavioral health programs like Hotel California by the Sea provide treatment for substance use disorder. We offer treatment at all levels of care including detox, residential, PHP and IOP. We utilize evidence-based methods such as CBT, DBT and EMDR therapy. Hotel California by the Sea is dedicated to helping clients reach their goals in sobriety and overcome their addiction.
References:
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/drugs-abuse-tests/drugs-abuse-home-use-test
https://recovered.org/drug-tests/at-home-drug-tests
https://www.healthline.com/health/at-home-drug-test
https://www.usdrugtestcenters.com/drug-test-blog/324/are-home-drug-tests-accurate.html
