Short screening scale for DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder

Objective: The authors' goal was to construct a short screening scale for D SM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method: They used data from the Detroit Area Survey of Trauma, which is a representative population sample of 2,181 subjects 18-45 years of age. Random digit dialing was used to sel ect the sample, and a computer-assisted telephone interview was used to col lect data on traumatic experiences and PTSD. Presence or absence of PTSD wa s assessed with a telephone-administered structured interview that closely followed the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Sched ule for DSM-IV and the World Health Organization Composite International Di agnostic interview, version 2.1. Best-subset regression analysis and receiv er operating characteristic analysis were used to select a subset of items from the structured interview that most efficiently predicted PTSD as diagn osed in the full-length interview. Results: A seven-symptom screening scale for PTSD was selected; five of the symptoms were from the avoidance and nu mbing group, and two were from the hyperarousal group. A score of 4 or grea ter on this scale defined positive cases of PTSD with a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 97%, positive predictive value of 71%, and negative predict ive value of 98%. Conclusions: The short screening scale is an efficient me thod to screen for PTSD in epidemiologic and clinical studies, given limita tions on resources and burden on respondents.