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Before you begin

Answer the lifetime trauma-exposure gate first. A No answer completes the official screen at 0; a Yes answer opens five past-month symptom questions. This brief screen identifies probable PTSD for fuller assessment and does not diagnose PTSD or assess immediate safety.

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) Assessment Complete the 20-item past-month PCL-5, see the 0 to 80 total and DSM-5 cluster counts, and review screening cut points with safety context.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Assessment Score the GAD-7 for the last two weeks and compare anxiety symptom severity with the separate impact on work, home tasks, and relationships.
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) Assessment Score the nine PHQ-9 symptoms, keep functional impact separate, and flag any Item 9 response for direct follow-up regardless of the total.
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) Assessment Complete the DASS-21 for the past week and review doubled Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scores with exact severity bands and safety context.
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A trauma screen is a brief way to decide whether a fuller post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assessment may be warranted. It is not a diagnosis. PTSD depends on a wider pattern that includes the nature of the exposure, how long symptoms have lasted, their effect on daily life, and whether another condition or circumstance better explains them.

The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) uses two time frames for different purposes. A lifetime question asks about exposure to an unusually frightening, horrible, or traumatic event. Only a Yes response opens five questions about reactions during the past month, covering unwanted memories or nightmares, avoidance, heightened watchfulness or startle, detachment, and guilt or blame.

Exposure gate
The lifetime event question that determines whether the symptom questions are asked.
Symptom total
The number of Yes responses among the five past-month symptom questions.
Cut point
An inclusive score boundary used to decide who may benefit from further assessment.

Two people can receive a total of 0 by different routes. A No response at the exposure gate ends the screen before symptoms are assessed. A Yes gate followed by five No answers means the symptom section was completed but none of its five areas was endorsed. Keeping those routes distinct prevents a gate stop from being mistaken for a complete symptom review.

Choosing a cut point involves a tradeoff. A lower cut point catches more possible cases but sends more people for assessment who may not have PTSD. A higher cut point reduces those false positives while missing more possible cases. The appropriate balance depends on the population, the screening purpose, and access to follow-up care.

A brief screen cannot show symptom intensity, impairment, immediate danger, or the full range of trauma-related difficulties. Persistent distress, disrupted daily life, ongoing danger, or any safety concern deserves attention regardless of the gate response or total. The result is informational and should not be used for diagnosis, treatment selection, fitness decisions, or emergency assessment.

How to Use This Tool:

Follow the gate in order and keep the selected screening cut point in view when the result appears.

  1. Choose Start assessment and answer the lifetime trauma-exposure question from your own experience.
  2. If the gate answer is No, finish the gate-stop path. If it is Yes, answer all five Yes/No questions using the past month as the recall period.
  3. Select Finish assessment and read the Screen summary with the Cut-point position. The displayed 3+ and 4+ lines are inclusive.
  4. Open Answer review to confirm the gate and symptom answers. Use Edit answers if any response is wrong; review-order and score-detail options change only how the ledger is shown.

Interpreting Results:

Start with the gate status, then read the total. A gate stop is not the same response pattern as a completed five-item symptom section that totals 0.

  • Trauma gate not endorsed: the official screen ends at 0 and the five symptom items are not administered.
  • Below 3+ and 4+ cut points: after a Yes gate, a total from 0 to 2 reaches neither displayed boundary.
  • Meets 3+ only: a total of exactly 3 reaches the 3+ boundary but remains below 4+.
  • Meets 3+ and 4+ cut points: a total of 4 or 5 reaches both displayed boundaries.

VA guidance highlights 4 as a balance between false negatives and false positives in the cited overall Veteran primary-care sample and for men, while also noting that a lower cut point may suit some populations or settings. Reaching a chosen cut point supports fuller assessment; it does not confirm PTSD.

A lower result does not rule out trauma-related distress. Review symptoms, daily-life impact, ongoing circumstances, and safety with a qualified professional when concern remains.

Technical Details:

PC-PTSD-5 combines a gate rule with a binary symptom count. The exposure answer controls administration but is excluded from the symptom total. Each administered symptom contributes either 1 for Yes or 0 for No.

Formula Core

Let G be the exposure-gate value and let xi be the score for past-month symptom item i. The total S follows this piecewise equation:

S = { 0 if G=0 ∑ i=1 5 xi if G=1

Here, G is 1 for Yes and 0 for No; each xi is 1 for Yes and 0 for No. The integer result ranges from 0 to 5 and requires no rounding. For a Yes gate followed by Yes, No, Yes, Yes, No, the total is 1 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 0 = 3.

Rule Core

Condition Displayed result Exact meaning
Gate = No Trauma gate not endorsed; total = 0 The symptom section was not administered.
Gate = Yes and total ≤ 2 Below 3+ and 4+ cut points Neither inclusive boundary is met.
Gate = Yes and total = 3 Meets 3+ only The 3+ boundary is met; 4+ is not.
Gate = Yes and total ≥ 4 Meets 3+ and 4+ cut points Both displayed boundaries are met.

The score has no reverse-keyed items, unequal weights, subscales, or severity bands. A stored “Not administered” value preserves the gate-stop record for symptom rows and contributes 0; it is not an answer option on the Yes-gate path.

Safety and Privacy:

The result does not assess immediate risk, ongoing violence, or need for emergency help. If someone may be in danger or at risk of self-harm, contact local emergency or crisis services rather than relying on this screen.

  • Answers and progress update this page's URL as you work. Anyone with the URL can read and edit the responses; the URL is not encrypted or access-controlled. Opening or reloading it sends the URL to this website and may leave it in browser history or server logs.
  • Encoding is not encryption or access control. Anyone who receives the link may recover the responses.
  • Copied or downloaded records can contain sensitive trauma information; share and store them accordingly.

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