Psychiatry Research
Volume 166, Issue 2 , Pages 269-280, 30 April 2009

Evaluating the reliability of multiple assessments of PTSD symptomatology: Multiple examiners, one patient

  • Domenic Cicchetti

      Affiliations

    • Yale University, Child Study Center and Departments of Psychiatry and Biometry, New Haven, CT 06512, United States
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 203 488 6563; fax: +1 203 483 1123.
    • ,
  • Alan Fontana

      Affiliations

    • North East Program Evaluation Center (NEPEC), West Haven, CT 06516, United States
    • Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, CT, United States
    • ,
  • Donald Showalter

      Affiliations

    • Yale University, Child Study Center and Departments of Psychiatry and Biometry, New Haven, CT 06512, United States

Received 14 February 2007; received in revised form 28 June 2007; accepted 24 January 2008.

Abstract 

The objective of this investigation was to assess the inter-examiner reliability of PTSD symptomatology by 12 clinical examiners who evaluated independently a single-case Vietnam-Era veteran, using videotaped clinician interviews with The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale-1 (CAPS-1). A second patient was utilized for cross-validation purposes. Data were analyzed using a specially designed Kappa statistic. In previous reliability assessments of the CAPS-1, a pair of examiners assessed multiple patients, and demonstrated evidence of high reliability and validity. As in previous reliability assessments, reliability was assessed both for frequency and intensity of PTSD symptomatology in both patients. Results indicated that the reliability levels of the CAPS-1 were consistently and almost exclusively in the excellent to perfect levels of inter-examiner agreement, as based upon both global assessments and on a symptom-by-symptom basis. The results of this investigation are interpreted in the broader framework of their applicability to assessing inter-examiner agreement in clinical trials or other large multi-site studies.

Keywords: PTSD symptomatology, Multiple examiners, Reliability, Single case

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PII: S0165-1781(08)00033-4

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2008.01.014

Psychiatry Research
Volume 166, Issue 2 , Pages 269-280, 30 April 2009

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