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Clinical Assessment Tools

Clinician-Administered Assessments

Assessment instruments for clinicians and researchers
From the National Center for PTSD

Offers reference, and contact information about child and adult measures of trauma exposure and responses.

Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS)
From the National Center for PTSD: Adult PTSD Interviews

An alphabetical list of adult PTSD interviews. For each measure, a brief description, sample items, versions, and references are provided. Information on how to obtain the measure is also provided.

From the National Center for PTSD: Trauma Exposure Measures
These assessment instruments measure the types of trauma a person has been exposed to, or the degree of severity of the traumatic event someone experienced. For each measure, a brief description, sample items, versions, and references are provided. Information on how to obtain the measure is also provided.

Self-Report Assessment Tools

The Iraq War Clinician Guide 2nd Edition
Written and Compiled by the National Center for PTSD and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, highlights that it is not always necessary to assign a diagnostic label to facilitate treatment (p. 108). Several brief measures of PTSD symptoms, which may be useful for understanding the type and frequency of PTSD-related, and monitoring treatment progress are recommended. These measures can be found on pages 113 and 114, respectively, in Appendix D of the guide.

If after reviewing these measures you are interested in learning more about other PTSD-related self-report measures, the National Center for PTSD has several tables that provide information about and how to obtain measures related to the following topics:

Screening for PTSD in a Primary Care Setting

Trauma and PTSD: Fact Sheet for Primary Care Providers
By the National Center for PTSD

Recent evidence suggests that psychological assistance can prevent or greatly reduce the severity of PTSD. Psychological healthcare is likely to enhance the patient's capacity to benefit from medical healthcare.

PTSD in Iraq War Veterans: Implications for Primary Care
By the National Center for PTSD

Stress reactions often lead people to increase their medical utilization. Because far fewer people experiencing traumatic stress reactions seek mental health services, primary care providers are the health professionals with whom individuals with PTSD are most likely to come into contact.

Screening for PTSD in Primary Care:
By the National Center for PTSD

Primary care doctors are likely to see an increase in traumatized individuals following a disaster, national terror event, and post military deployment. Many patients will present with physical rather than mental or emotional symptoms. It is recommended that primary care doctors educate themselves about the effects of trauma and routinely screen individuals for trauma after major disasters.

Primary Care Strategies to Foster Male Health Care Seeking
Courage to Care Fact Sheet for Providers