screening for post traumatic stress disorder

Last reviewed 01/2018

Screening for post-traumatic stress disorder 1 month after the event is recommended in the following individuals:

  • people who have experienced a major disaster
  • refugees and asylum seekers (1)

People at high risk of acquiring PTSD can be detected by using several screening instruments (mainly questionnaires containing traumatic stress symptoms)

  • in primary care the Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ) and the SPAN test have the greatest potential for routine use (1)
    • TSQ
      • contains ten questions requiring yes/no answers (1)
      • consists of the re-experiencing and arousal symptoms (2)
      • the person is inquired whether they have experienced each symptoms at least twice in the past week (1)
      • a total of six points or more out of ten points suggests a positive result for PTSD (2)
    • SPAN
      • comprises the 'startle', 'physiological upset on reminders', 'anger' and 'numbness' questions
        • scoring is more complicated when compared to TSQ
    • other screening questionnaires include:
      • Impact of Event Scale
      • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist
      • The Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS)
      • The Davidson Trauma Scale (1)

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