Protocol - Polysubstance Use Frequency - Past Year
- Amount, Type, and Frequency of Recent Use of Nicotine Products
- Substance Use Disorder - Past Year - Alcohol
- Substance Use Disorder - Past Year - Drugs
- Substance Use Disorder - Past Year - Tobacco
Description
The Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance use Part I (TAPS-I) tool is a self- or interview-administered questionnaire. Five items ask about past 12-month use for four substance categories: tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit substances. A skip pattern asks men and women a different question about the quantity of alcohol used in the past 12 months.
Specific Instructions
The PhenX Substance Use and Recovery Working Group (WG) notes that investigators may want to adapt the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance use Part I (TAPS-I) tool for inquiry into specific drugs (e.g., opioids, cannabis) and timeframes (e.g., past 90 days, past year).
The Substance Use and Recovery WG notes that although the TAPS-I captures general use of substances, including low-risk use, it can be used to assess unhealthy substance use.
Protocols may include terms and language that could be triggering to respondents. Investigators are encouraged to have resources in place to help respondents cope with triggers as needed.
Terminology related to substances, substance use, and recovery is fluid. Updates in protocol language may be appropriate based on circumstance. Suggestions for revision have been offered to update answer responses or other components of the questionnaires to account for the constantly changing landscape. These suggestions have not been tested or validated in research studies but may be considered by investigators to enhance relevance.
Availability
This protocol is freely available; permission not required for use.
Protocol
The Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance use (TAPS) Tool Part 1
General Instructions:
The TAPS Tool Part 1 is a 4-item screening for tobacco use, alcohol use, prescription medication misuse, and illicit substance use in the past year. Question 2 should be answered only by males and Question 3 only be females. Each of the four multiple-choice items has five possible responses to choose from. Check the box to select your answer.
Segment:
Visit number:
1. In the PAST 12 MONTHS, how often have you used any tobacco product (for example, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or smokeless tobacco)?
[ ] Daily or Almost Daily
[ ] Weekly
[ ] Monthly
[ ] Less Than Monthly
[ ] Never
2. In the PAST 12 MONTHS, how often have you had 5 or more drinks containing alcohol in one day? One standard drink is about 1 small glass of wine (5 oz), 1 beer (12 oz), or 1 single shot of liquor. (Note: This question should only be answered by males).
[ ] Daily or Almost Daily
[ ] Weekly
[ ] Monthly
[ ] Less Than Monthly
[ ] Never
3. In the PAST 12 MONTHS, how often have you had 4 or more drinks containing alcohol in one day? One standard drink is about 1 small glass of wine (5 oz), 1 beer (12 oz), or 1 single shot of liquor. (Note: This question should only be answered by females).
[ ] Daily or Almost Daily
[ ] Weekly
[ ] Monthly
[ ] Less Than Monthly
[ ] Never
4. In the PAST 12 MONTHS, how often have you used any drugs including marijuana, cocaine or crack, heroin, methamphetamine (crystal meth), hallucinogens, ecstasy/MDMA?
[ ] Daily or Almost Daily
[ ] Weekly
[ ] Monthly
[ ] Less Than Monthly
[ ] Never
5. In the PAST 12 MONTHS, how often have you used any prescription medications just for the feeling, more than prescribed or that were not prescribed for you? Prescription medications that may be used this way include: Opiate pain relievers (for example, OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, Methadone), Medications for anxiety or sleeping (for example, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin), Medications for ADHD (for example, Adderall or Ritalin)
[ ] Daily or Almost Daily
[ ] Weekly
[ ] Monthly
[ ] Less Than Monthly
[ ] Never
Personnel and Training Required
The interviewer must be trained to conduct personal interviews with individuals from the general population. The interviewer must be trained and found to be competent (i.e., tested by an expert) at the completion of personal interviews. The interviewer should be trained to prompt respondents further if a “don’t know” response is provided.
Equipment Needs
The Medical Cannabis Use, Polysubstance Use, and Recovery (MCPR) Working Group (WG) acknowledges these questions can be administered in a computerized or noncomputerized format (i.e., paper-and-pencil instrument). Computer software is necessary to develop computer-assisted instruments. The interviewer will require a laptop computer/handheld computer to administer a computer-assisted questionnaire.
Requirements
| Requirement Category | Required |
|---|---|
| Major equipment | No |
| Specialized training | No |
| Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection | No |
| Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual | No |
Mode of Administration
Interviewer-administered questionnaire
Lifestage
Adult, Senior
Participants
Adults ages 18 years or older
Selection Rationale
The Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance Part I (TAPS-I) is concise, well-established, and validated. It is highly specific to low-risk use of alcohol and other drugs, including cannabis, and can be adapted easily for a specific drug or timeframe.
Language
English, Spanish
Standards
| Standard | Name | ID | Source |
|---|
Derived Variables
None
Process and Review
Not Applicable
Protocol Name from Source
Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance use (TAPS-I)
Source
Gryczynski, J., McNeely, J., Wu, L. T., Subramaniam, G. A., Svikis, D. S., Cathers, L. A., Sharma, G., King, J., Jelstrom, E., Nordeck, C. D., Sharma, A., Mitchell, S. G., O'Grady, K. E., & Schwartz, R. P. (2017). Validation of the TAPS-1: A four-item screening tool to identify unhealthy substance use in primary care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 32(9), 990–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-017-4079-x
National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (NIDA CTN) Common Data Elements. Instrument: TAPS Tool. Web Version: 2.0; 4.00; 09-19-17. https://cde.nida.nih.gov/instrument/29b23e2e-e266-f095-e050-bb89ad43472f
General References
Wu, L.-T., McNeely, J., Subramaniam, G. A., Sharma, G., VanVeldhuisen, P., & Schwartz, R. P. (2016). Design of the NIDA clinical trials network validation study of Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medications, and Substance use/misuse (TAPS) tool. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 50, 90-97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2016.07.013
Protocol ID
511601
Variables
Export Variables| Variable Name | Variable ID | Variable Description | dbGaP Mapping |
|---|
Measure Name
Polysubstance Use Frequency - Past Year
Release Date
January 30, 2025
Definition
This measure describes levels of use for alcohol, prescription medications, and other drugs including cannabis to identify unhealthy substance use. Low-risk use is defined differently by substance and sex and differs internationally. In the United States, for women, low-risk alcohol use is defined by not exceeding 3 standard drinks per day or 7 drinks per week. For men, low-risk alcohol use is defined by not exceeding 4 drinks per day or 14 drinks per week (where a “standard drink” contains 14g of ethyl alcohol/ethanol). Any nonmedical use of prescription drugs and substances other than alcohol constitutes unhealthy or high-risk use. Low-risk use captures levels of toxicity related health harms independent of substance use disorder remission status. It is considered a crucial element in operational definitions of recovery.
Purpose
Low-risk levels of use of alcohol or other drugs are considered a crucial element in operational definitions of recovery (e.g., National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) in addition to remission in order to address toxicity-related health harms (e.g., liver disease, cancer) independent of substance use disorder (SUD) remission status.
Keywords
tobacco, nicotine, alcohol, drugs, prescription medications, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, Cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco, wine, beer, liquor, marijuana, cannabis, cocaine, crack, heroin, methamphetamine, Crystal meth, hallucinogens, ecstasy, MDMA, opiate pain relievers, OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, Methadone, medications for anxiety or sleeping, Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, medications for ADHD, Adderall, Ritalin, substance use, low-risk use, unhealthy use, National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network, NIDA CTN, substance use disorder, SUD, addiction
Measure Protocols
| Protocol ID | Protocol Name |
|---|---|
| 511601 | Polysubstance Use Frequency - Past Year |