Screening for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Female Veteran’s Affairs Patients: Validation of the PTSD Checklist

Citation:

Dobie, Dorcas J., Daniel R. Kivlahan, Charles Maynard, Kristen R. Bush, Miles McFall, Amee J. Epler, and Katharine A. Bradley. 2002. "Screening for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Female Veteran’s Affairs Patients: Validation of the PTSD Checklist." General Hospital Psychiatry 24 (6): 367-74.

Authors: Dorcas J. Dobie, Daniel R. Kivlahan, Charles Maynard, Kristen R. Bush, Miles McFall, Amee J. Epler, Katharine A. Bradley

Abstract:

We evaluated the screening validity of a self-report measure for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the PTSD Checklist (PCL), in female Veterans Affairs (VA) patients. All women seen for care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care system from October 1996–January 1999 (n=2,545) were invited to participate in a research interview. Participants (n=282) completed the 17-item PCL, followed by a gold standard diagnostic interview for PTSD, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Thirty-six percent of the participants (n=100) met CAPS diagnostic criteria for current PTSD. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the screening performance of the PCL. The area under the ROC curve was 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.90). A PCL score of 38 optimized the performance of the PCL as a screening test (sensitivity 0.79, specificity 0.79). The PCL performed well as a screening measure for the detection of PTSD in female VA patients.

Keywords: female veterans, posttraumatic stress disorder, mental health

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries

Year: 2002