The PCL-5 asks how much 20 PTSD symptoms have bothered someone in the past month. Its total, from 0 to 80, screens for probable PTSD and tracks symptoms through treatment. Answer the items to score it, check the cutoff and the DSM-5 cluster rule, and record the result with the free template.
PCL-5 result template
FreePCL-5 RESULT Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or ID, age] Reason: [Screen after a trauma, intake, session check, or end of treatment] EVENT AND VERSION Version: [Past month or past week; standard, with Criterion A, or with the LEC-5] How completed: [On their own on paper or a device, or read aloud in person or by phone; language and interpreter] Index event: [A few words naming the worst event the answers are about, and how long ago it happened] Criterion A: [How exposure was established, or still to confirm] SCORES Items 1 to 20: [Each answer 0 to 4, in order] Missing items: [None, or which ones and what was done] Total: [0 to 80] Cutoff used: [31, 32, 33, or your service's own; total below, within, or above it] Clusters: [B items 1 to 5, C items 6 and 7, D items 8 to 14, E items 15 to 20, each as a subtotal] Rated 2 or more: [Count per cluster; DSM-5 pattern of 1 B, 1 C, 2 D, and 2 E met or not met] Item 16: [Answer, and what the risky behavior is if 2 or more] OVER TIME Earlier totals: [Dates or session numbers, totals, and the version each time] Change: [Points since the first score; 10 or more is the usual mark of response] INTERVIEW Diagnostic interview: [CAPS-5 or clinical interview: done, booked, or not needed, and the result] Duration and impact: [How long symptoms have lasted, and their effect on work, home, and relationships] Other conditions: [Depression, alcohol or drug use, sleep, pain, head injury; other screens with scores] Impression: [Negative screen, probable PTSD, confirmed PTSD, or another explanation] PLAN Treatment: [Trauma-focused therapy offered or under way, medication, or monitoring] Referral: [Trauma service, psychology, psychiatry, or none] Next PCL-5: [Date or session, and which version] Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Every item as published. The total and what it means update with each answer; nothing you choose leaves this page.
Below is a list of problems that people sometimes have in response to a very stressful experience. Keeping your worst event in mind, please read each problem carefully and then select one of the numbers to the right to indicate how much you have been bothered by that problem in the past month. In the past month, how much were you bothered by:
Use it for
The person rates 20 problems for how much each bothered them in the past month, with their worst event in mind. It takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
Avoid: Asking for the full story of the event first. The form only needs the person to keep the event in mind.
Each item scores 0 to 4; add all 20 for a total from 0 to 80.
Avoid: Filling in a missed item yourself. There’s no official rule for missing answers, so ask the item before the person leaves, or record the total as incomplete.
A total at or above the cutoff, somewhere from 31 to 33, means probable PTSD. An interview confirms it.
Avoid: Ruling PTSD out on a total just under the cutoff. A 29 with both avoidance items at 4 still needs a conversation.
Item 16 asks about taking too many risks or doing things that could cause harm. A 2 or more needs a follow-up question.
Avoid: Using the PCL-5 as a suicide screen. It has no item on suicidal thoughts; ask separately whenever there’s concern.
Give it before each session, or monthly, to see whether symptoms are falling.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Family practice follow-up for neck pain and poor sleep, completed on paper in the room
Standard past-month version, self-completed in English in about 6 minutes. Index event: a highway crash 3 months ago; his car was rear-ended at speed and pushed into a barrier. Criterion A met: a crash with threatened death and serious injury; the other driver left by ambulance.
Items 1 to 20: 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 0, 2, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0, 3, 3, 2, 3. Total 46, above the 31 to 33 range. Clusters: B 14, C 7, D 12, E 13. Rated 2 or more: B 5, C 2, D 4, E 5, so the DSM-5 pattern is met. Item 16: 0.
First PCL-5. No earlier trauma screen or mental health care.
34-year-old man, a delivery driver. Nightmares 3 or 4 nights a week, about 4 hours of sleep, and he startles at the sound of braking. Hasn’t driven on the highway since; on reduced hours because he won’t take the long routes. Blames himself for taking a shortcut that night. PHQ-9 11, item 9 0. AUDIT-C 3. No head injury at the scene; neck strain healing. Impression: positive screen, probable PTSD, to be confirmed in a structured interview.
Explained the result and what trauma-focused therapy involves; he chose a referral. Referred to the trauma service for a CAPS-5 interview and prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy, or EMDR. Sleep plan for now; no new medicine today. Work letter for local routes only. Review in 4 weeks with a repeat past-month PCL-5.
Outpatient psychology, weekly video sessions, past-week version before each session
Past-week version, completed online before each session, the same version since session 1. Index event: a roadside blast on deployment 9 years ago in which a close friend was killed. PTSD confirmed with the CAPS-5 at intake.
Items 1 to 20: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 0, 2, 2, 2, 3. Total 29, below the 31 to 33 range. Clusters: B 5, C 2, D 11, E 11. Rated 2 or more: B 0, C 0, D 5, E 5, so the DSM-5 pattern is no longer met. Item 16: 0.
Session 1: 52, with B 14, C 7, D 18, E 13. Session 4: 47. Session 8: 38. Session 12: 29. Down 23 points, more than twice the 10-point mark for response. Not yet under 28.
41-year-old veteran, a school maintenance supervisor. Twelve sessions of cognitive processing therapy completed. Nightmares down from 4 a week to 1; he shops in crowded stores again. The stuck point “I should have seen it coming” now feels 30% true, from 90%. Still sleeps about 5 hours and snaps at his kids when tired; sleep is his highest item. Alcohol down from 4 beers a night to 2 on weekends. PHQ-9 7, item 9 0. Impression: PTSD, much improved, with insomnia and irritability remaining.
Protocol complete. Agreed on 4 more sessions every 2 weeks for self-blame and anger, and a referral for cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. PCL-5 before each session; plan the ending once it stays under 28 at two sessions in a row.
A score over the cutoff means probable PTSD. Confirm it in an interview such as the CAPS-5, with the event, a duration of more than a month, and the effect on daily life.
The PCL-5 has no empirically derived severity ranges. Record the total, the cutoff you used, and where the total sits against it.
Past-week and past-month scores cover different periods, and the old 17-item PCL for DSM-IV doesn’t compare at all. Name the version every time.
A missed item lowers the total and can turn a positive screen negative. Ask the item, or record the total as incomplete.
Vero Scribe records the PCL-5 result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: the total, the clusters, the trend, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the 20 items scores 0 for not at all, 1 for a little bit, 2 for moderately, 3 for quite a bit, and 4 for extremely. Add them for a total from 0 to 80. For the DSM-5 cluster rule, count the items rated 2 or more in each cluster.
A total of 31 to 33 or more suggests probable PTSD, and services choose a cutoff in or around that range for their population and purpose. There are no official mild, moderate, or severe bands. A positive result still needs an interview, such as the CAPS-5, to confirm the diagnosis.
Count each item rated 2, moderately, or higher as a symptom. A provisional diagnosis needs at least 1 from items 1 to 5, 1 from items 6 and 7, 2 from items 8 to 14, and 2 from items 15 to 20. The National Center for PTSD notes that the total cutoff tends to give more reliable results.
The current National Center for PTSD guide suggests a fall of 10 points as a sign of response, and says the evidence is limited. Older guidance, carried over from the PCL for DSM-IV, used 5 points as reliable change and 10 as clinically meaningful. One study of veterans found that a score under 28 after treatment means the person is more likely to belong to a population without PTSD.
The PCL-5 is a 20-item questionnaire the person fills in, in 5 to 10 minutes. The CAPS-5 is a structured interview given by a trained clinician, in about 45 to 60 minutes, and it’s the gold standard in PTSD assessment. Many services screen with the PCL-5 and confirm with the CAPS-5.
Anyone on the care team can hand it out, since the person fills it in, and it can be read aloud in person or by phone. A clinician should interpret it: the National Center for PTSD intends it for qualified health professionals and researchers.
Yes. It was developed at the National Center for PTSD and is in the public domain, so no permission is needed. The official past-month and past-week forms, and the versions with Criterion A and the LEC-5, are on its site. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download too.
Nine questions on the last two weeks: depression screening and severity, scored 0 to 27.
Two questions on interest and mood: a quick first screen for depression, scored 0 to 6.
Seven questions on worry and tension: anxiety screening and severity, scored 0 to 21.
Up to six questions on suicidal thoughts and behavior; the highest yes sets low, moderate, or high risk.
Ten self-report items on the past 7 days: depression screening in pregnancy and after birth, scored 0 to 30.
The official PDF for each version, the Spanish form, and how to correct a score already in the record, which this page doesn’t cover.
For EMDR sessions that track the PCL-5 next to SUD and VOC.
For the end of trauma-focused therapy, with the PCL-5 from first session to last.
Intakes, sessions, and measures written up from the visit for your review.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
No credit card required. 10 free actions every month.