Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Sep 2021)
Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Primary Care Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Screen-5 for Medical Staff Exposed to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
Rui-Wen Huang,1 Tao Shen,2 Lei-Ming Ge,3 Lu Cao,4 Jian-Feng Luo,5– 7 Shi-Yu Wu1 1Department of Science and Education, RuiJin Hospital LuWan Branch, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Huangpu District Mental Health Center, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of General practice, Changfeng Community Health Service Center of Putuo, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 6NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 7Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shi-Yu Wu; Jian-Feng Luo Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic may increase the development of psychiatric disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among medical staff. A brief validated screening tool is essential for the early diagnosis of PTSD. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the validation of a Chinese version of the Primary Care-PTSD-5 (C-PC-PTSD-5) and determine an appropriate cutoff score with optimal sensitivity and specificity for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.Participants and Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on medical staff (n = 1104) from 17 medical institutions in Shanghai. Questionnaires comprising general information, medical-related traumatic event experiences, the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5), and C-PC-PTSD-5 were distributed to participants using the online Questionnaire Star electronic system. Internal consistency, convergent validity, and test–retest reliability were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to determine diagnostic accuracy and the optimal cutoff score of the C-PC-PTSD-5 for medical staff.Results: We included 1062 valid questionnaires for the analysis. Data of 838 traumatic experiences were analyzed. Internal consistency of the C-PC-PTSD-5 was satisfied (Cronbach’s α = 0.756). The total score of the C-PC-PTSD-5 showed good test–retest reliability (r = 0.746). We found a strong correlation between the C-PC-PTSD-5 score and PCL-5 total score (r = 0.669, p < 0.001), which indicated good convergent validity. The ROC analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.81 ± 0.016. A cutoff score of 2 provided optimal sensitivity and specificity for the C-PC-PTSD-5 (sensitivity = 0.632, specificity = 0.871, Youden index = 0.503, and overall efficiency = 0.768).Conclusion: Our results indicated that the C-PC-PTSD-5 can be employed as a brief and efficient screening instrument for medical staff exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic. A score of 2 was identified as the optimal threshold for probable clinical PTSD symptoms.Keywords: PTSD, COVID-19, self-reported screens, medical staff, PCL-5, PC-PTSD-5
