
Comparison of phosphatidylethanol results to self-reported alcohol consumption among young injection drug users. Our objective was to test the value of phosphatidylethanol (PEth) as a biomarker for alcohol consumption among injecting drug users (IDUs). As part of a longitudinal study of young IDUs, dried blood spots and self-reported alcohol by structured interview were collected at baseline. We compared self-reported alcohol use to detectable PEth (≥8 ng/ml) in the blood spots as well as the relationships between quantitative PEth results and quantity measures of alcohol consumption.