Comparison of the PSC-17 and alternative mental health screens in an at-risk primary care sample.
OBJECTIVE
To validate the 17-item version of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) as a screen for common pediatric mental disorders in primary care.


METHODS
Patients were 269 children and adolescents (8-15 years old) whose parents completed the PSC-17 in primary care waiting rooms. Children were later assessed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL). The PSC-17's subscales were compared with K-SADS-PL diagnoses and measures of anxiety, depression, general psychopathology, functioning, and impairment.


RESULTS
In receiver operating characteristics analyses, the PSC-17 subscales performed as well as competing screens (Child Depression Inventory, the parent and child Screens for Child Anxiety-Related Disorders) and Child Behavior Checklist subscales (Aggressive, Anxious-Depressed, Attention, Externalizing, Internalizing, and Total) in predicting diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, externalizing disorders, and depression (area under the curve > or =0.80). The instrument was less successful with anxiety (area under the curve = 0.68). None of the screens were highly sensitive, many were insensitive, and all would have low positive predictive value in low-risk primary care populations.


CONCLUSIONS
The PSC-17 and its subscales are briefer than alternative questionnaires, but performed as well as those instruments in detecting common mental disorders in primary care. Continued research is needed to develop brief yet sensitive assessment instruments appropriate for primary care.
Gardner
William
W
Drs. Gardner and Campo and Ms. Lucas are with the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice, Columbus Children's Research Institute and the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University; and Dr. Kolko is with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Electronic address: gardnerw@pediatrics.ohio-state.edu.
Lucas
Amanda
A
Drs. Gardner and Campo and Ms. Lucas are with the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice, Columbus Children's Research Institute and the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University; and Dr. Kolko is with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Kolko
David J
DJ
Drs. Gardner and Campo and Ms. Lucas are with the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice, Columbus Children's Research Institute and the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University; and Dr. Kolko is with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Campo
John V
JV
Drs. Gardner and Campo and Ms. Lucas are with the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice, Columbus Children's Research Institute and the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University; and Dr. Kolko is with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011320:Primary Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires