Evaluation of the self-reported questionnaires used to assess mental health after the January 2015 terrorist attacks in the Paris Region: IMPACTS survey. (1st June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bertuzzi, L.; Vuillermoz, C.; El Aarbaoui, T.; Héron, M.; Aubert, L.; Pirard, P.; Vandentorren, S.; Motreff, Y.
• Is Part Of: European psychiatry. Volume 65:Supplement 1(2022)
• Page Start: S262
• Page End: S263
• Publication Date: 2022-06-01
• Subjects: Mental health disorders -- self-report questionnaires -- Terrorist attack; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.673
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0924-9338

Abstract

Abstract : Introduction: Structured clinical interviews are the gold standard for assessing mental health. However limited resources may allow the use of only self-report questionnaires. In the context of emergency, such as terrorist attacks, the performance and thresholds of such tools still unclear. Objectives: We investigated the performance of the Posttraumatic stress disorder CheckList Scale (PCL-S) and of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), both compared to the MINI Interview, among civilians and first responders involved in terrorist attacks. Methods: The data came from the IMPACTS survey which was conducted from 6-10 months among civilians (N=190) and first responders (N=232) after the January 2015 terrorist attacks in the Paris Region, France. Sensitivity and specificity of the PCL-S and HADS were estimated by the ROC curve, and the optimal threshold was defined using the Youden index. Results: Regarding the PCL-S: for civilians and first responders respectively, the overall AUC was 0.947 and 0.899, and the optimal threshold were 38.5 and 39.5. Regarding the HADS-D: for civilians and first responders respectively, the overall AUC was 0.908 and 0.617 and the optimal thresholds were 7.5 and 1.5. For the HADS-A for civilians and first responders respectively, the overall AUC was 0.823 and 0.717, the optimal threshold were 9.5 and 6.5. Conclusions: In the context of a terrorist attack, compared to the MINI, our study underlined satisfactory performance of the PCL-S and the HADS-D in screening for PTSD and depression respectively, while the screening of anxiety using the HADS-A was unsatisfactory. Disclosure: No significant relationships.