Psychometric properties of a novel PTSD screen in older combat veterans with varying levels of cognitive impairment

With the Vietnam veteran population approaching older adult status, a quick and reliable screen for PTSD is more important than ever. Cognitive impairment is a common complaint among this cohort, yet no existing studies have evaluated the feasibility of using a brief screen to measure PTSD in cognitively-impaired populations. A novel eight-item measure, the Simplified PTSD Screen (S-PTSD), was derived from the PTSD Checklist (PCL-S) with improved readability and legibility from existing measures. Seventy combat veterans (M age = 63.81, SD = 5.40) were assessed for PTSD and level of cognitive functioning. The S-PTSD demonstrated adequate internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha = 0.83. Internal reliability was maintained in individuals deemed as having moderate to severe cognitive impairment. The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) substantiated the new tool's concurrent validity with correlations from 0.43 to 0.65. The S-PTSD and the CAPS were correlated with the total amount of traumatic exposure as measured by the Life Events Checklist. The S-PTSD showed strong discriminant validity with a measure of depressive symptomatology, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Specific measures of cognitive performance were not found to be correlated with the S-PTSD. Although more research is necessary, the S-PTSD shows promise as an efficient and reliable screening instrument to accurately screen for PTSD in older adults with varying levels of cognitive functioning.