Findings indicated that although studies generally met st and ards in several quality areas , there is still room for improvement .
Areas for improvement include establishing representativeness , adequately describing clinical and demographic characteristics of the sample , and presenting better descriptions of important aspects of test and reference st and ard execution .
In addition , study quality has not appreciably improved since the publication of the STARD Statement in 2003 .
Despite the popularity of the PTSD Checklist ( PCL ) as a clinical screening test , there has been no comprehensive quality review of studies evaluating its diagnostic accuracy .
Sensitivity and Specificity of the PTSD Checklist in Detecting PTSD in Female Veterans in Primary Care
PTSD affects a substantial number of women in medical setting s and is associated with significant distress and impairment . There are effective methods of treating trauma-related distress , but a minority seek such care . Thus , primary care is an important setting in which to identify individuals with PTSD . We sent question naires , including the  PTSD Checklist — Civilian Version ( PCL-C )  , to 419 female veterans who were seen in our primary care clinic in 1998 ; 56 % ( N = 221 ) returned the measures . A r and om subset ( n = 49 ) was interviewed to establish psychiatric diagnoses . The results provide qualified support for the use of the PCL-C total score with a lowered cutoff score as a screening measure for PTSD in female veterans in primary care
Findings indicated that although studies generally met st and ards in several quality areas , there is still room for improvement .
Areas for improvement include establishing representativeness , adequately describing clinical and demographic characteristics of the sample , and presenting better descriptions of important aspects of test and reference st and ard execution .
In addition , study quality has not appreciably improved since the publication of the STARD Statement in 2003 .
Despite the popularity of the PTSD Checklist ( PCL ) as a clinical screening test , there has been no comprehensive quality review of studies evaluating its diagnostic accuracy .