Utility of the impact of event scale in screening for posttraumatic stress disorder.
This study assesses the optimal cut-off point for the Impact of Event Scale and compares its screening properties with those of the Self-rating Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among war-related trauma victims. 74 patients with war-related trauma were administered the Impact of Event Scale and the Self-rating Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, followed 1 wk. later by the Clinician-administered PTSD Scale. Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated for the Impact of Event Scale a sensitivity of .77 and a specificity of .51 at a cut-off value of 36. For the Self-rating Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder a sensitivity of .86 and a specificity of .69 were found at a cut-off value of 52. The authors conclude that careful use of the Impact of Event Scale as a screening measure for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is warranted.
Witteveen
Anke B
AB
Department of Medical Psychology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ab.witteveen@vumc.nl
Bramsen
Inge
I
Hovens
Johannes E
JE
van der Ploeg
Henk M
HM
D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology