Reliability and validity of a post-traumatic checklist-5 (PCL-5) among fire and rescue officers in Selangor, Malaysia

Muhammad Naim Mat Salleh,Halim Ismail,Hanizah Mohd Yusoff

doi:10.1108/jhr-11-2019-0243

Muhammad Naim Mat Salleh, Halim Ismail + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/jhr-11-2019-0243

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Abstract

PurposeThis study is to establish the validity and reliability of Malay version of Post-traumatic Check List-5 (MPCL-5) among the fire and rescue officers in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted, which involved 100 firefighters from the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Construct validity, internal consistency, and concurrent validity were performed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Concurrent validity was tested with validated Malay version of Trauma Screen Questionnaire (TSQ-M).FindingsOverall internal consistency reliability was a 0.960 and individual construct Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.827 to 0.926. The model, which consists of four constructs with 20 items, demonstrated the presence of acceptable loading factors. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) are 0.81, 0.65, 0.31 and 0.95 respectively at an optimum cut-off score of 35.Research limitations/implicationsThe Post Traumatic Check List 5 (PCL-5) is the latest tool based on DSM-5 developed recently and still having limited studies on the psychometric properties of the tool in local population and the findings produced are comparable with the results from validation from previous studies. The study limitations are population samples used are considering the minimum numbers of sample for each item for factor analysis and the concurrent validation was tested with the TSQ-M instead of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5).Practical implicationsThe study suggested that MPCL-5 is acceptable to be used to measure post-traumatic stress disorder in local populations.Originality/valueThere are limited known validation studies for PCL-5 in local populations and this is the first study done among fire and rescue officers in Malaysia. The results are comparable with findings from previous studies and therefore MPCL-5 are valid and reliable for PTSD screening.

Highlights

Firefighters are emergency workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events during the course of their services
The Post Traumatic Check List 5 (PCL-5) consists of 20 items corresponding to the DSM-V for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms
It was found that the diagnosis of PTSD was 42% (n 5 42) of the sample when using Malay version of post-traumatic stress checklist-5 (MPCL-5) compared to only about 16% (n 5 16) when using Trauma Screen Questionnaire Malay version (TSQ-M)

Summary

Introduction

Firefighters are emergency workers who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events during the course of their services. Their roles are characterized by high levels of work demands and routine exposure to both physical and psychological stressors [1]. A recently published metaanalysis of the worldwide current prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in rescue workers yielded a prevalence of approximately 10% for PTSD, suggesting about 150,310 first responders may meet criteria for current PTSD, and of that, 7% of current firefighters suffer. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http:// creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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