title: Variation in practices and attitudes of clinicians assessing PTSD-related disability among veterans.
abstract: One hundred thirty-eight Veterans Affairs mental health professionals completed a 128-item Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Practice Inventory that asked about their practices and attitudes related to disability assessment of PTSD. Results indicate strikingly wide variation in the attitudes and practices of clinicians conducting disability assessments for PTSD. In a high percentage of cases, these attitudes and practices conflict with best-practice guidelines. Specifically, 59% of clinicians reported rarely or never using testing, and only 17% indicated routinely using standardized clinical interviews. Less than 1% of respondents reported using functional assessment scales.
authors.affiliation: VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and Oliver Zangwill Centre, Nashville 37232, USA. james.c.jackson@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Sinnott
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Marx
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murdoch
authors.forename: Nina A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Sayer
authors.forename: Joann M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Greevy
authors.forename: Paula P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Schnurr
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Andrea C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Shane
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.forename: Terence M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Speroff
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008910:Minnesota; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013714:Tennessee; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*