Development and validation of the computerized clinician administered post-traumatic stress disorder scale-1-revised

• Published in: Psychological medicine Vol. 24; no. 3; p. 701
• Main Authors: Neal, L A, Busuttil, W, Herapath, R, Strike, P W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.08.1994
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Combat Disorders - classification; Combat Disorders - diagnosis; Combat Disorders - psychology; Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; Female; Humans; Male; Mathematical Computing; Middle Aged; Military Personnel - psychology; Observer Variation; Personality Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - classification; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology
• ISSN: 0033-2917
• DOI: 10.1017/S0033291700027859

A computer administered version of the clinician administered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scale-1 was developed to assess PTSD in subjects presenting with psychological symptoms following exposure to a traumatic event. Both forms were administered to 40 subjects who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, third edition, revised (DSM-III-R) criteria for exposure to a significantly traumatic stressor. Inter-observer reliability was demonstrated with a kappa statistic of 0.90. The computer version had a sensitivity of 0.95 and a specificity 0.95. A correlation of 0.95 was found between the two versions and the mean score difference was non-significant. The computer form demonstrated adequate internal reliability and test-retest reliability. Overall results suggest the computer version is a valid and reliable measure of PTSD.