Operating characteristics of the PTSD checklist in a military primary care setting.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is implementing universal behavioral health screening for all DoD health-care beneficiaries presenting to military primary care clinics. The PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993) is used for the identification of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the operating characteristics of the PCL-C remain unstudied in this population. This study examined the operating characteristics of the PCL-C in a sample of 213 patients from 3 Washington, D.C., area military primary care clinics. Blinded raters independently assessed PTSD using the PTSD Symptom Scale Interview (Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993) as the diagnostic criterion standard. The receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that PCL-C scores accounted for 92% of the area under the curve. A PCL-C score of 31 optimized sensitivity (0.93) and specificity (0.90), and the multilevel likelihood ratio was 5.50 (95% confidence interval [2.26, 13.37]). Internal consistency (0.97) and test-retest reliability (0.87 after a median 13 days) were strong. Results suggest that a PCL-C score of 31 is the optimal cutoff score for use in a military primary care setting serving active duty service members, dependents, and retirees. These findings offer military primary care providers preliminary data to interpret PCL-C scores and to inform treatment decisions as part of routine clinical practice.

Cultural considerations in understanding family violence among Asian American Pacific Islander families.

There has been much research conducted in the area of family violence, however, there is a paucity of research specifically addressing family violence in Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Because AAPIs are regarded as the model minority, many have the misconception that family violence does not exist in this population. This article examines Asian cultural beliefs and values to gain a better understanding of Asian attitudes towards family violence. A more in-depth exploration of the Cambodian and Vietnamese cultures regarding attitudes towards violence is included because of the higher tolerance of family violence among these 2 cultures than other Asian cultures. Public health nurses working with AAPI families can provide culturally appropriate care by taking Asian attitudes, values, and beliefs into account when developing nursing interventions with victims of abuse.