Validation of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSQI‐A) in U.S. Male Military Veterans. Issue 2 (19th March 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Insana, Salvatore P.; Hall, Martica; Buysse, Daniel J.; Germain, Anne
• Is Part Of: Journal of traumatic stress. Volume 26:Issue 2(2013)
• Page Start: 192
• Page End: 200
• Publication Date: 2013-03-19
• Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Periodicals; 616.8521
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.21793
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-9867

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en" id="jts21793-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Sleep disturbances are core symptoms of posttraumatic‐stress disorder (PTSD), yet they bear less stigma than other PTSD symptoms. Given the growing number of returning military veterans, brief, valid assessments that identify PTSD in a minimally stigmatizing way may be useful in research and clinical practice. The study purpose was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum for PTSD (PSQI‐A), and to examine its ability to identify PTSD cases among U.S. male military veterans. Male military veterans (<italic>N</italic> = 119) completed the PSQI‐A, as well as measures of sleep quality, combat exposure, posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. Veterans with PTSD had higher PSQI‐A identified disruptive nocturnal behaviors than veterans without PTSD. The PSQI‐A had good internal consistency and convergent validity with sleep quality, combat exposure, PTSD symptoms, depression, and anxiety. A cutoff score ≥ 4 provided an area under the curve = .81, with 71% sensitivity, 82% specificity, and 60% positive and 83% negative predictive value for a clinical diagnosis of PTSD; correct classification was 74%. The PSQI‐A is a valid measure to possibly detect PTSD among male military veterans. Assessment of disruptive nocturnal behaviors may provide a cost‐effective, nonstigmatizing approach to PTSD screening without directly probing for trauma exposure(s).</p> </abstract>