Assessment of traumatic experiences, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and PTSD diagnosis is best accomplished using validated measures. Below, we provide information on a variety of measures that can be used to screen for traumatic life experiences, assess PTSD symptoms, or assign a PTSD diagnosis. We also provide information and training opportunities related to assessment measures and best practices. This section is organized in the following way:
- We discuss why screening for trauma and PTSD is important in rural opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment settings.
- We provide validated measures and related information in PDF format for providers to download.
- We provide guidelines for choosing from the available measures.
- Finally, we offer recommendations for efficient and effective screening and referral procedures that are specific to medications for OUD (MOUD) providers in rural communities who may not have the time or resources needed to conduct more comprehensive PTSD assessments or provide evidence-based PTSD treatment.