Diagnostic performance of the PTSD checklist and the Vietnam Era Twin Registry PTSD scale. (6th June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Magruder, K.; Yeager, D.; Goldberg, J.; Forsberg, C.; Litz, B.; Vaccarino, V.; Friedman, M.; Gleason, T.; Huang, G.; Smith, N.
• Is Part Of: Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences. Volume 24:Number 5(2015)
• Page Start: 415
• Page End: 422
• Publication Date: 2014-06-06
• Subjects: Epidemiology -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- Periodicals; Community psychiatry -- Periodicals; 362.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S2045796014000365
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7960

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="sec1"> <title>Aims.</title> <p>Self-report questionnaires are frequently used in clinical and epidemiologic studies to assess post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A number of studies have evaluated these scales relative to clinician administered structured interviews; however, there has been no formal evaluation of their performance relative to non-clinician administered epidemiologic assessments such as the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). We examined the diagnostic performance of two self-report PTSD scales, the PTSD checklist (PCL) and the Vietnam Era Twin Registry (VET-R) PTSD scale, compared to the CIDI.</p> </sec> <sec id="sec2"> <title>Methods.</title> <p>Data were derived from a large epidemiologic follow-up study of PTSD in 5141 Vietnam Era Veterans. Measures included the PCL, VET-R PTSD scale and CIDI. For both the PCL and VET-R PTSD scale, ROC curves, areas under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, % correctly classified, likelihood ratios, predictive values and quality estimates were generated based on the CIDI PTSD diagnosis.</p> </sec> <sec id="sec3"> <title>Results.</title> <p>For the PCL and VET-R PTSD scale the AUCs were 89.0 and 87.7%, respectively. Optimal PCL cutpoints varied from the 31–33 range (when considering sensitivity and specificity) to the 36–56 range (when considering quality estimates). Similar variations were found for the VET-R PTSD, ranging from 31 (when considering sensitivity and specificity) to the 37–42 range (when considering quality estimates).</p> </sec> <sec id="sec4"> <title>Conclusions.</title> <p>The PCL and VET-R PTSD scale performed similarly using a CIDI PTSD diagnosis as the criterion. There was a range of acceptable cutpoints, depending on the metric used, but most metrics suggested a lower PCL cutpoint than in previous studies in Veteran populations.</p> </sec> </abstract>