What is the Post-traumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and how does it work?

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) is a much-requested and widely-used measure of PTSD symptoms, and is now available within Creyos Health to administer to patients alongside our measures of cognition or other self-report questionnaires. The PCL was first developed during the 1990s by Frank Weathers and colleagues at the National Center for PTSD (Weathers et al. 1993) and recently revised.

The PCL-5’s twenty items assess the 20 criteria for PTSD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), measuring severity of symptoms over the past month. A total score and DSM-5 symptom cluster scores are provided, which can be used as a quick and automated way to monitor symptom changes before and after treatment, screen individuals for PTSD, and make a provisional PTSD diagnosis.

How is PTSD related to cognition?

Cognitive deficits have been observed in individuals and groups affected by trauma (e.g., Clouston et al., 2017, found high levels of cognitive dysfunction in World Trade Center responders), so the PCL-5 is a natural companion to the Creyos Health cognitive tasks, as well as the other mental health questionnaires already available in the platform. The PCL-5 can now be added to any Creyos Health protocol within your account.