Validation of Abbreviated Four‐ and Eight‐Item Versions of the PTSD Checklist for DSM‐5 in a Traumatically Injured Sample

Abstract

Rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are three times higher in traumatically injured populations than the general population, yet limited brief, valid measures for assessing PTSD symptom severity exist. The PTSD Checklist for DSM‐5 (PCL‐5) is a valid, efficient measure of symptom severity, but its completion is time consuming. Subsequently, abbreviated four‐ and eight‐item versions were developed using the Mini‐International Neuropsychiatric Interview–7 PTSD module and validated in Veteran samples. This study aimed to validate these abbreviated versions using the Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale for DSM‐5 (CAPS‐5), the gold standard for PTSD diagnosis, in a traumatically injured civilian population. Participants were 251 traumatically injured adults (Mage = 42.52 years; 69.3% male; 50.2% Caucasian) recruited from a Level 1 trauma center inpatient unit; 32.3% and 17.9% of participants experienced a motor vehicle crash or gunshot wound, respectively. The CAPS‐5 and PCL‐5 were administered approximately 6.5 months postinjury. We examined whether compared to the full PCL‐5, the abbreviated versions would adequately differentiate between participants with and without a CAPS‐5 PTSD diagnosis. The abbreviated versions were highly correlated with the total scale and showed good‐to‐excellent internal consistency. The diagnostic utility of the abbreviated measures was comparable to that of the total scale regarding sensitivity, suggesting they may be useful as abbreviated screening tools; however, the total scale functioned better regarding specificity. The abbreviated versions of the PCL‐5 may be useful screening instruments in the long‐term care of traumatic injury survivors and may be more likely to be implemented across routine clinical and research contexts.

Psychometric Characteristics of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Applied in the CENTER-TBI Study

“…While the items of the SF-36v2 cover a wider range of physical activities and activity-related problems, the items of the SF-12v2 focus on a limited number of physical problems that are most probably associated less with anxiety. Nevertheless, the results are generally in line with previous findings suggesting that negative emotions (i.e., anxiety, depression, or stress) are highly correlated with generic HRQoL, especially with the MCS [ 76 , 77 ]. Moreover, the assumption that the mental and physical components of the SF-36v2 and the SF-12v2 would have strong positive correlations with the QOLIBRI and the QOLIBRI-OS was affirmed across all languages, supporting results from previous studies [ 34 , 78 ].…”

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Health Care Workers During the Pandemic Surge in New York City

“…A positive screen for significant COVID-19-related PTSD symptoms was defined by a score !8, which has shown the highest efficiency (90.4%; sensitivity ¼ 0.81, specificity ¼ 0.94) in diagnosing PTSD. 15 In the current sample, internal consistency was good (x ¼ 0.85).…”

“…COVID-19-related PTSD Symptoms. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed using a 4-item PTSD-Checklist (PCL4-5), 15 an abbreviated version of the PTSD-Checklist-5 (PCL-5), 16 which has been validated against the gold-standard Clinician-Administered PTSD worded to ascertain the experience of burnout "before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic." Together, questions measure emotional exhaustion and depersonalization with responses ranging from 0 ("Never") to 6 ("Every day") 14 Exposure to COVID-19 Personal exposure sum score Number of items endorsed on a question asking whether friends, family, colleagues, and self have been sick, required hospitalization, ICU stay, or died due to COVID-19.…”

Moral distress in frontline healthcare workers in the initial epicenter of the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United States: Relationship to PTSD symptoms, burnout, and psychosocial functioning

“…COVID‐19‐related PTSD Symptoms: PTSD symptoms were assessed using an abbreviated 4‐item version (Geier et al, 2020 ) of the PTSD Checklist for DSM‐5 (Weathers et al, 2013 ), with questions modified to assess PTSD symptoms related to COVID‐19 exposure (e.g., “Over the past two weeks, how often were you bothered by repeated, disturbing, and unwanted memories of your experiences related to the COVID‐19 pandemic?”) A positive screen for PTSD symptoms was defined by a cutoff score ≥8 (Geier et al, 2020 ; Cronbach's α = .85).…”