Clinical utility of a brief diagnostic test for posttraumatic stress disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study examines the psychometric properties and clinical utility of a brief diagnostic instrument known as the Self-Rating Scale for PTSD (SRS-PTSD).


METHODS
The scale was applied to a sample of 136 survivors of a plane crash. We designed SRS-PTSD as an abridged version of the Structured Interview for PTSD (SI-PTSD), which measures the presence and severity of PTSD symptoms from both a current and a lifetime perspective.


RESULTS
The results indicate that SRS-PTSD and SI-PTSD both show satisfactory internal consistency and interjudge reliability. Furthermore, SRS-PTSD was shown to have sufficient sensitivity and specificity and an adequate likelihood ratio.


CONCLUSIONS
SRS-PTSD constitutes a good alternative for SI-PTSD, especially for sites with limited clinical resources.
Carlier
I V
IV
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, The Netherlands.
Lamberts
R D
RD
Van Uchelen
A J
AJ
Gersons
B P
BP
D000060:Accidents, Aviation / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D015588:Observer Variation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013534:Survival / Q000523:psychology*