@article{ref1,
title="Customized computer-based administration of the PCL-5 for the efficient assessment of PTSD: a proof-of-principle study",
journal="Psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy",
year="2017",
author="Finkelman, Matthew D. and Lowe, Sarah R. and Kim, Wonsuk and Gruebner, Oliver and Smits, Niels and Galea, Sandro",
volume="9",
number="3",
pages="379-389",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential of customized computer-based testing procedures to reduce the mean test length of the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). <br><br>METHOD: A retrospective analysis was conducted using responses from 942 adults who had completed the full-length (20-item) PCL-5 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The abilities of 2 testing procedures, curtailment and stochastic curtailment, to lessen the instrument's mean test length while maintaining the same result as the full-length PCL-5 (&quot;positive&quot; or &quot;negative&quot;) were evaluated in a post hoc simulation. Curtailment and stochastic curtailment track a respondent's answers as she takes the instrument and stop the test if future items are unable or unlikely to change the result. The performance of each procedure was recorded under 2 scoring methods: a total-score-based method and a cluster-based method. Each procedure's sensitivity, specificity, and overall agreement with the full-length PCL-5 were computed. <br><br>RESULTS: Curtailment reduced the mean test length by 40% under the total-score-based method, and by more than 70% under the cluster-based method, while exhibiting 100% sensitivity, specificity, and overall agreement with the full-length PCL-5. Stochastic curtailment reduced the mean test length by up to 88% under the total-score-based method, and up to 84% under the cluster-based method, while always exhibiting at least 92% sensitivity and 99.8% overall agreement, as well as 100% specificity, for the full-length PCL-5. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Curtailment and stochastic curtailment have potential to enhance the efficiency of the PCL-5 when this assessment is administered by computer. The 2 procedures should be evaluated in future prospective studies. (PsycINFO Database Record<br><br>(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1942-9681",
doi="10.1037/tra0000226",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/tra0000226"
}