Feasibility of Risk Factor-Based Screening for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Trauma

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following traumatic injury can have severe psychiatric consequences. Current recommendations from the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma require implementing PTSD screening but specify neither who should be screened nor how. It is unknown whether narrowed screening selection criteria could identify an acceptable proportion of patients with PTSD.

This study aimed to determine the feasibility of implementing risk factor-based PTSD screening in trauma patients by evaluating the sensitivity and clinical practicality.

This is a prospective diagnostic study of a consecutive series of general ward patients at an urban Level I trauma center from December 2021 to March 2022. Screening indications included (a) interpersonal injury, (b) surgery, (c) intracranial hemorrhage, (d) less than 30 years of age, or (e) clinical suspicion. The protocol was assessed by measuring the proportion of positive screens captured by only clinical suspicion to estimate sensitivity and by qualitatively evaluating barriers to implementation.

Among the 200 patients screened, the number of patients who screened positive was 51 (25.5%). Eight patients were screened on clinical suspicion alone, seven (87.5%) of whom had positive screens, compared with 44 of the 192 (22.9%) patients who were screened for indications. Thus, 7 of 51 (13.7%; 95% confidence interval: 6.8%-26.7%) patients with PTSD-level symptoms would not have been screened on the basis of their risk factors. There were also practical difficulties in implementation.

Limiting PTSD screening to only those injured patients with additional risk factors would have reduced overall sensitivity at our center. Consequently, we have implemented universal screening instead.