BACKGROUND: This study examined the accuracy of the 17-item Dutch version of the 
Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) and the four-item SPAN (Startle, Physiological 
Arousal, Anger and Numbness) to detect survivors at risk for posttraumatic 
stress disorder (PTSD) within the first 2 weeks after the trauma.
METHODS: 203 civilian survivors of recent trauma with relatively mild symptoms 
completed the DTS a mean of 8.7 days after experiencing trauma. SPAN scores were 
computed from the DTS. At a mean of 64.6 days posttrauma, 160 respondents were 
assessed for diagnosis of PTSD with the Structured Interview for PTSD.
RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that the DTS showed 
good overall screening accuracy (84%). At a cut-off value of 64, the DTS 
demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.86, a specificity of 0.70, a positive predictive 
value (PPV) of 0.12, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.98. Overall 
accuracy of the SPAN was good (89%). At a cut-off of 10 the SPAN showed a 
sensitivity of 0.86, a specificity of 0.86, a PPV of 0.22, and a NPV of 0.98. 
The low PPVs were possibly due to the low of prevalence of PTSD in our sample 
(4.4%).
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that both the DTS and the SPAN are comparably 
accurate in screening early trauma survivors at risk for developing PTSD. The 
very brief four-item SPAN may be preferred over the longer 17-item DTS 
especially in settings in which time and resources are limited. Future studies 
should aim to cross-validate these results in random samples.