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. 1998 Jun;66(3):586-90.
doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.66.3.586.

Posttraumatic stress disorder after treatment for breast cancer: prevalence of diagnosis and use of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) as a screening instrument

M A Andrykowski  1 , M J Cordova, J L Studts, T W Miller
Affiliations

Posttraumatic stress disorder after treatment for breast cancer: prevalence of diagnosis and use of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) as a screening instrument

M A Andrykowski et al. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1998 Jun.

Abstract

The presence of a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis in women (n = 82) diagnosed with Stage 0-IIIA breast cancer was assessed 6 to 72 months after cancer therapy. The PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) and the PTSD module for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Nonpatient Version, PTSD module (SCID-NP-PTSD) were administered in a telephone interview. SCID-NP-PTSD results indicated prevalence rates of 6% and 4% for current and lifetime PTSD, respectively. Use of the recommended cutoff score of 50 on the PCL-C to determine diagnosis of current cancer-related PTSD resulted in a sensitivity of .60 and a specificity of .99 with 2 false-negative diagnoses. In conclusion, PTSD can be precipitated by diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, and the PCL-C can be a cost-effective screening tool for this disorder.

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