title: The differential diagnostic accuracy of the PTSD Checklist among men versus women in a community sample.
abstract: We evaluated the specific version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL-S) as a screening tool for the recruitment of community-residing men and women with diverse trauma experiences. We administered the PCL-S via telephone in the context of participant recruitment, as well as in a laboratory setting preceding administration of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the gold standard PTSD assessment tool. In the laboratory, the PCL-S performed reasonably well for men and women, yielding overall diagnostic efficiency (ODE) values (representing percentage of cases accurately identified) of 0.78 and 0.73, respectively, for our recommended cut-points of 42 for men and 49 for women. In contrast, as a recruitment tool, the PCL-S yielded an acceptable ODE of 0.79 for men at the recommended cut-point of 47, but only an ODE of 0.56 (representing diagnostic efficiency no greater than chance) for women at the recommended cut-point of 50. A recruitment cut-point of 57 for women yields a similarly modest ODE of 0.61, but with substantial cost to sensitivity. These findings suggest that use of the PCL-S to screen for PTSD among potential study participants may lead to gender biased study results, even when separate diagnostic cut-points for men and women are used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Parker-Guilbert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Feea R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Leifker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sippel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, 140 Moore Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: AmyMarshall@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Amy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Marshall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist / Q000592:standards*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D018579:Patient Selection; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: Assessment; Gender; PCL; Recruitment; Screening; Trauma