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 .
Comparability of Telephone and In-Person Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) Diagnoses
The SCID was administered twice , once by telephone and once in person ( 1 week later ) to 41 college age men . For major depression ( lifetime K = .64 , current K = .66 ) , results indicated good agreement . The lifetime occurrence estimate based on the telephone SCID diagnosis was lower than the in-person SCID estimate . Kappas for specific diagnoses were calculable for simple phobia ( lifetime K = .47 , current K = -.03 ) and social phobia ( lifetime K = .29 ) . Base rates were less than 10 % for all individual diagnoses except lifetime major depression ; therefore , the kappas may be unstable . For all diagnoses where there were any positive cases , percentages of negative agreement and specificity were high , whereas percentages of positive agreement and sensitivity were lower . Overall agreement was fair for specific lifetime diagnoses but poor for current diagnoses . These results suggest caution in assuming comparability of in-person and telephone SCID diagnoses . Circumstances under which a telephone SCID may be useful and ways to improve reliability are discussed
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 .