Sensitivity and specificity of urinary ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate in liver disease patients.

Background: It is important to monitor alcohol use in the care of patients with liver disease, but patient self-report can be unreliable. We therefore evaluated the performance of urine ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and ethyl sulfate (EtS) in detecting alcohol use in the days preceding a clinical encounter.

Methods: Subjects (n = 120) were recruited at a university-based hepatology clinic or during hospitalization.