Development and Validation of an Arabic Version of the Drug Abuse Screening Test-10 (DAST-10) among Saudi Drug Abusers

The Drug Abuse Screening Test-10 (DAST-10) is a valid and reliable screening tool for drug use-related problems, however there is no Arabic version. To our knowledge, this is the first study to develop and validate an Arabic DAST-10 version. Saudi young adults participated in the study as two groups; drug users (n=360) recruited from Alamal Complex for Mental Health, Jeddah, and drug non-users (n=100). Three measures were used: (1) Demographic and drug use description questionnaire, (2) Arabic DAST-10 version, and (3) Urine analysis for drug use. The developed Arabic DAST-10 version demonstrated adequate internal consistency. High correlations were shown between its scores and the two standard measures (urine analysis and self-reporting question) indicating good criterion validity. Sensitivity and specificity values were between 91.5 - 99.7% and 57 - 92.5% with different DAST-10 cutoff values. An optimal performance at a cutoff score of 3 or more was most likely to significantly identify drug users. Discriminant analysis showed that more than 90% of cases were correctly classified. Distribution of participants in categories of DAST-10 scores according to degree of problems was reasonable. It is concluded that the developed Arabic DAST-10 version is a reliable and valid screening tool for drug use-related problems in Arabic speakers.