A brief sleep scale for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum for PTSD

J Anxiety Disord. 2005;19(2):233-44. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2004.02.001.

Abstract

Sleep disturbances reflect a core dysfunction underlying Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically, disruptive nocturnal behaviors (DNB) may represent PTSD-specific sleep disturbances. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum for PTSD (PSQI-A) is self-report instrument designed to assess the frequency of seven DNB. The goal of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the PSQI-A to characterize DNB in a group of participants with and without PTSD. Results indicate that the PSQI-A has satisfactory internal consistency and good convergent validity with two standard PTSD measures even when excluding their sleep-related items. A global PSQI score of 4 yielded a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 82%, and a positive predictive value of 93% for discriminating participants with PTSD from those without PTSD. The PSQI-A is a valid instrument for PTSD applicable to both clinical and research settings.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychometrics
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sleep*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*