Mood Emot.  2023 Jul;21(2):19-27. 10.35986/me.2023.21.2.19.

Diagnostic Utility of Four Brief Korean Versions of the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 in Adult Psychiatric Outpatient

• Son B
• Kim D
• Yoon KS
• Cho S

• KMID: 2551134
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.35986/me.2023.21.2.19

Abstract

Background
The post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL)-5, originally a 20-item self-questionnaire, has provided abbreviated versions of the checklist. This study aimed to test the diagnostic utility and validity of four brief versions of PCL-5 in a sample of adults seeking treatment at a psychiatric outpatient unit in a South Korean university-affiliated hospital.
Methods
The sample comprised 97 adults diagnosed with PTSD and 130 diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders seeking treatment. Each abbreviated scale was examined with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive power. Additionally, internal consistency, correlation with full scale, convergent validity, and concurrent validity were investigated.
Results
All four versions demonstrated excellent discriminative power, with AUC values of >0.9. Suggested cut-off scores were 6, 8, 11, and 16 for the short four-item version (S4), PCL4, PCL6, and PCL8, respectively. Internal consistency was adequate or good except for S4. Additionally, brief scales demonstrated good convergent validity with depression and anxiety scales and excellent concurrent validity with other PTSD scales.
Conclusion
This study confirms the excellent diagnostic utility and adequate validity of four abbreviated versions of the Korean translation of PCL-5 in the clinical trial.

Keyword

Psychological tests; Stress disorders, post-traumatic; Diagnosis; Sensitivity and specificity