Posttraumatic stress disorder screening in the US military and va populations

Abstract

For 14 years, the US military has sent more than 2 million service members to Iraq and Afghanistan. Based on lessons learned from the first Persian Gulf War, US military personnel now undergo post-deployment medical and mental health screening for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Over the last 20 years, multiple studies have aided in refining this process to include adapting the questionnaires, including evidence-based screening tools, modifying the scheduled screening times, and identifying cutoff scores. However, this current process and the screening tools have their limitations, dominantly based on the requirement for self-report of symptoms. Future developments will focus on continued screening refinement, the application of screening tools in treatment monitoring, and developing PTSD measures which are not dependent on self-report measures.