PC-PTSD-5 screen
Answer the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 and see your total out of 5 against the published cut point. The screen is reproduced word for word from the VA's National Center for PTSD, and it is a screen rather than a diagnosis. For adults.
Medically reviewed by Kevin Brandstetter, M.D.Updated September 28, 2026
Sometimes things happen to people that are unusually or especially frightening, horrible, or traumatic. For example:
- a serious accident or fire
- a physical or sexual assault or abuse
- an earthquake or flood
- a war
- seeing someone be killed or seriously injured
- having a loved one die through homicide or suicide.
Have you ever experienced this kind of event?
If no, screen total = 0. Please stop here.
If yes, please answer the questions below.
Your PC-PTSD-5 score
Incomplete
0 of 5 answered
Answer the first question to begin. The screen has no score until it is finished.
A score is a screen, not a diagnosis. The next step is a conversation with a licensed clinician, who reads a number like this alongside your history, not on its own.
A screen, not a diagnosis.
The PC-PTSD-5 asks whether you have been through a frightening or traumatic event and, if so, about five reactions to it over the past month. It cannot diagnose PTSD or anything else, and a number on its own says little about one person. Only a licensed clinician can make a diagnosis, and they read a score alongside your history, not instead of it. This tool is for adults.
If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and open 24 hours a day. Veterans can call 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Methodology
- How this is calculated
- The first question is not scored. Answered “NO”, the screen is complete with a total of 0 and the five questions are not asked. Answered “YES”, each of the five questions scores 1 for “YES” and 0 for “NO”, for a total between 0 and 5. The total sits either below the cut point of 4 or at or above it. Changing the first answer clears the five, so no earlier answer is kept out of sight. No total appears until the screen is finished.
- Where the data comes from
- Prins A, Bovin MJ, Smolenski DJ, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2016;31:1206-1211. doi:10.1007/s11606-016-3703-5. Also validated in: Bovin MJ, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(2):e2036733. The questions and answers are reproduced word for word from the respondent form, and the scoring and cut point from the VA National Center for PTSD's page on the screen, which states: “This measure was developed by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD and is in the public domain and not copyrighted. In accordance with the American Psychological Association's ethical guidelines, this instrument is intended for use by qualified health professionals and researchers.”
- Last updated
- September 28, 2026
- What this does not account for
- Everything a clinician asks beyond these questions: what happened and when, how long the reactions have lasted, how they affect sleep, work, and relationships, mood, alcohol and other substances, your medical history, and your medications. The screen asks about the past month only.
What the cut point means
The VA National Center for PTSD recommends a cut point of 4. Its page on the screen reports that
“a cut-point of 4 ideally balanced false negatives and false positives for the overall sample and for men. However, for women, a cut-point of 4 resulted in high numbers of false negatives.”
In other words, a total of 4 misses more women with PTSD than men. The result on this page says only which side of 4 a total sits on. Neither side is a decision about you, and a total below it does not rule anything out.
Who the screen is written for
The screen was built for primary care visits, and the VA's permission statement reads, in part: “this instrument is intended for use by qualified health professionals and researchers.” A score here is something to bring to a clinician, not a replacement for one.
Why the wording is not edited
The PC-PTSD-5 is a validated screen: its cut point means what it means because large numbers of people answered these questions in this wording. So the questions here are reproduced exactly as the respondent form prints them, including the lowercase start of each question that continues “In the past month, have you...”, rather than rewritten in Temi's voice the way the rest of this page is.
Nothing here is stored
Your answers stay in your browser. They are not sent to Temi, not saved, not attached to you, and not recorded in any session replay, and closing the tab clears them. Temi knows only that someone opened this tool, the same thing it knows about every page.
This page has no result link, because a link would carry an answer about a traumatic event in its address. If you want to act on what you see, the useful next step is a conversation with a clinician who knows you, or one you can get to. Temi does not prescribe controlled substances.
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Already taking a medication?
Temi's physicians review renewals for non-controlled medications, usually within 48 hours. A score on this page is not a prescription and does not decide anything.
A licensed physician reviews every request. Nothing on this page is a prescription.