Clinical utility of urine drug screening in children younger than 7 years in the pediatric emergency…

Cohort studyFrontiers in pediatrics· 2026

Clinical utility of urine drug screening in children younger than 7 years in the pediatric emergency department: a multicenter retrospective study.

Renana Gelernter, Eran Kozer, Vered Hugi-Shitrit … Yael Lurie

Pediatric Emergency MedicineCohort studyQ1IF 2.2

Urine drug screening changed diagnosis or management in about 5% of young children tested

Clinical utility of urine drug screening in children younger than 7 years in the pediatric emergency department: a multicenter retrospective study.

Renana Gelernter … Yael Lurie

Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026

Background

Urine drug screening (urine drug screening) is an immunoassay frequently used in emergency departments to detect drug exposure; however, its clinical utility remains debated.

Purpose

This study aimed to describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of young children who underwent urine drug screening and to assess whether the test results influenced case management.

Methods

We conducted a multicenter retrospective chart review across four hospitals, including children younger than 7 years who underwent urine drug screening between 2010 and 2023.

n = 693 patients

5.2%

Results

5.2%

urine drug screening changed diagnosis or care in a small minority of children tested

n = 693 patients

More results

Among the 693 patients (mean age, 30.7 ± 19.4 months; 59.1% male), 115 urine drug screening tests were positive.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (tetrahydrocannabinol) was the most common substance identified in these cases.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Urine drug screening influences the diagnosis and management of approximately 5% of young children, most commonly when tetrahydrocannabinol is detected.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Further studies are needed to refine the role of urine drug screening in the pediatric emergency department.

Clinical utility of urine drug screening in children younger than 7 years in the pediatric emergency department: a multicenter retrospective study.

Clinical utility of urine drug screening in children younger than 7 years in the pediatric emergency department: a multicenter retrospective study.

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