Title |
The validity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) as screening instrument with Kurdish and Arab displaced populations living in the Kurdistan region of Iraq
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Published in |
BMC Psychiatry, August 2018
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DOI | 10.1186/s12888-018-1839-z |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Hawkar Ibrahim, Verena Ertl, Claudia Catani, Azad Ali Ismail, Frank Neuner |
Abstract |
The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) is a valid and reliable self-report measure for the assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Recently the PCL was updated according to the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD. So far only a few studies have examined the psychometric properties of the PCL-5, and all of these are restricted to populations living in industrialized countries. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties and diagnostic utility of the PCL-5 as a screening instrument for war-affected displaced Kurdish and Arab populations. The specific goal was to determine a contextually valid cut-off score for a probable diagnosis of PTSD. The PCL-5 was translated into Arabic and two Kurdish dialects. Trained interviewers administered these translations as assisted self-reports to 206 adults living in camps for displaced people in Iraq, together with depression and war-exposure instruments. Two weeks later, 98 randomly chosen subjects were reassessed by expert clinical psychologists. In the absence of a gold-standard instrument with proven validity in this context, the expert interviewers applied the PCL-5 items in the form of a clinical interview and used a DSM-5-algorithm to determine a diagnosis of PTSD. Receiver operator characteristics (ROC) were performed to determine a valid cutoff-score. The internal consistency of the PCL-5 was high (alpha = .85) and the instrument showed an adequate convergent validity. Using the cut-off score of 23, the PCL-5 achieved the optimal balance of sensitivity and specificity (area under the curve = .82, p < .001; sensitivity = .82, specificity = .70). Given that the comparison of the two assessments included both a re-test interval and validation by different interviewers, our results indicate that the PCL-5 can be recommended as an assessment and screening instrument for Kurdish and Arab populations. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 206 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 32 | 16% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 26 | 13% |
Researcher | 20 | 10% |
Student > Bachelor | 16 | 8% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 9 | 4% |
Other | 34 | 17% |
Unknown | 69 | 33% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 51 | 25% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 24 | 12% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 14 | 7% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 6 | 3% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 2% |
Other | 28 | 14% |
Unknown | 79 | 38% |