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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1338311

The psychometric properties of the Swahili Version of the Primary Care Post Traumatic Stress Disorder screen for DSM-5 (S-PC-PTSD-5) among adults in Kenya

Provisionally accepted
Patrick N. Mwangala Patrick N. Mwangala 1,2,3*Joseph N. Guni Joseph N. Guni 1Paul Mwangi Paul Mwangi 1Millicent Makandi Millicent Makandi 1Anita Kerubo Anita Kerubo 1Rachel Odhiambo Rachel Odhiambo 1Amina Abubakar Amina Abubakar 1,2,4
  • 1 Aga Khan University (Kenya), Nairobi, Kenya
  • 2 KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
  • 3 School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The psychometric properties of the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) are undocumented in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) at large. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swahili version of the tool, S-PC-PTSD-5, in a community sample of adults 18 years and older drawn from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kwale counties in Kenya. Methods: Analysis of cross-sectional data from 1431 adults from the community was conducted, examining the reliability, factorial structure, measurement invariance, and convergent and divergent validity of the interviewer-administered S-PC-PTSD-5. Results: Out of 1431 adults who completed the S-PC-PTSD-5, 666 (46.5%) reported experiencing at least one traumatic event. Internal consistency of the S-PC-PTSD-5 was good overall, with alpha and omega values above 0.7. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results indicated a one-factor structure of the S-PC-PTSD-5 for the overall sample. Multigroup CFA also demonstrated factorial invariance for sex for the one-factor structure of S-PC-PTSD-5. Scores for S-PC-PTSD-5 significantly correlated (positively) with those of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD7) and depressive symptoms (PHQ9), indicating convergent validity. S-PC-PTSD-5 scores also significantly correlated (negatively) with the WHO-5 wellbeing index, supporting divergent validity. Conclusions: The S-PC-PTSD-5 is a reliable and valid unidimensional measure. It appears to be a valuable screening measure for probable PTSD in both urban and rural community settings in Kenya. Nonetheless, to confidently identify those who may need treatment/additional support, further research on the reliability and validity of S-PC-PTSD-5 is required, especially its diagnostic accuracy at different cutoff scores.

    Keywords: factor analysis, Swahili-PC-PTSD-5, adults, Kenya, Psychometrics properties

    Received: 14 Nov 2023; Accepted: 16 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mwangala, Guni, Mwangi, Makandi, Kerubo, Odhiambo and Abubakar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Patrick N. Mwangala, Aga Khan University (Kenya), Nairobi, Kenya

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