Childerhose Janet E, Myers John V, Dzurec Megan E, Gault Caroline, Lieberman Marya, Stenger Sarah G, Munch Fabienne, Niles Kaleigh T, Fernandez Soledad A
Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Center for Biostatistics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Subst Use Misuse. 2025;60(7):1035-1044. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2025.2481321. Epub 2025 Mar 24.
Fentanyl test strips (FTS) are a forensic tool designed for laboratory testing of urine samples. They have been adapted into a point-of-consumption drug-checking tool to detect illegally manufactured fentanyl in local drug supply. This creates unknown usability challenges for people who use drugs (PWUD). To assess ease of use in real-world settings, we conducted usability testing of five FTS brands.
Six researchers independently completed a REDCap survey to evaluate usability of five FTS brands before and after testing a baking soda sample prepared in their homes. The survey first assessed ease of use of specific brand features, then usability of each brand as an interactive system with the System Usability Scale (SUS).
DanceSafe scored highest on ease of use ratings and highest on the SUS (above the usability threshold of ≤68). Dosetest scored lowest on ease of use ratings and below the SUS usability threshold. Respondents identified usability challenges with all brands, including difficulty opening single-strip envelopes, complex instruction design, and instruction discrepancies. Design of all brands assumes users have required testing resources (e.g. water, measuring tools, an Internet connection, and a timer), yet no brand provides these.
FTS are complex interactive systems not fully adapted for testing in real-world settings. The complexity of FTS may lead to testing error or limit their adoption by PWUD. We encourage manufacturers to design FTS directly for PWUD by considering resource limitations of real-world testing settings, human factors, and local supply complexity.
芬太尼检测试纸（FTS）是一种用于尿液样本实验室检测的法医工具。它们已被改编为一种消费点毒品检测工具，以检测当地毒品供应中非法制造的芬太尼。这给吸毒者带来了未知的使用挑战。为了评估在现实环境中的易用性，我们对五个FTS品牌进行了可用性测试。
六名研究人员在测试家中制备的小苏打样本前后，独立完成了一份REDCap调查问卷，以评估五个FTS品牌的可用性。该调查首先评估特定品牌功能的易用性，然后使用系统可用性量表（SUS）评估每个品牌作为一个交互式系统的可用性。
DanceSafe在易用性评分上得分最高，在SUS上得分也最高（高于≤68的可用性阈值）。Dosetest在易用性评分上得分最低，低于SUS可用性阈值。受访者指出了所有品牌的可用性挑战，包括打开单条试纸包装困难、复杂的说明书设计以及说明书差异。所有品牌的设计都假定用户拥有所需的测试资源（如水、测量工具、互联网连接和定时器），但没有一个品牌提供这些资源。
FTS是复杂的交互式系统，尚未完全适应现实环境中的测试。FTS的复杂性可能导致测试错误或限制吸毒者对其的采用。我们鼓励制造商通过考虑现实测试环境的资源限制、人为因素和当地供应复杂性，直接为吸毒者设计FTS。
