ABSTRACT
Immunoassay is a powerful analytical technique which has recently become available for the detection of drugs of abuse in urine. The collected data compare the sensitivity, accuracy, precision, reliability, specificity, time, and cost of these procedures. This information has been abstracted from an on-going evaluation of many methods for the detection of drugs of abuse with the hope that this preliminary report will be helpful and timely. Reagents and materials required for each of the immunoassays were supplied by the manufacturers. Urine samples were obtained from patients in local methadone treatment centers. One of the most important advantages of the immunoassays is that they measure drugs in urine directly, without prior extraction, purification, or concentration of drug from the urine. This is based on the inherent sensitivity and specificity of these methods. The relative reactivity of a compound is the response of that compound divided by the response of an equal concentration of morphine.
