Development of Korean Version of PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (K-PCL-5) and the Short Form (K-PCL-5-S).

Objective: This study presents the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-fifth edition (DSM-5) (K-PCL-5) and the short form (K-PCL-5-S).

Methods: Seventy-one subjects with PTSD, 74 subjects with mood or anxiety disorders, and 99 healthy controls were enrolled. The Korean version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-research version was used to confirm the presence of PTSD. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to evaluate the concurrent validity of the K-PCL-5 and K-PCL-5-S.

Results: It presented good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.93) and test-retest reliability (r=0.90). The K-PCL-5 and K-PCL-5-S were highly correlated with the BDI-II, BAI, IES-R, STAI-S, and STAI-T. The suggested cutoff score for PTSD was 33 for the K-PCL-5 with a sensitivity of 88.51 and specificity of 89.09, and 6 for the K-PCL-5-S with a sensitivity of 91.95 and specificity of 89.09. The data were best explained with a one-factor model.

Conclusion: These results demonstrated the good reliability and validity of the K-PCL-5 and K-PCL-5-S, and their suitability as simple tools for PTSD assessment.