At the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will conduct a study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Specifically related to the assessment and diagnosis of PTSD, the committee will review and comment on the objective measures used in the diagnosis of PTSD and known risk factors for the development of PTSD. 

The committee will review the utility and objectiveness of the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), and will comment on the validity of current screening instruments and their predictive capacity for accurate diagnoses.

IOM will use the existing committee on Gulf War and Health: Physiologic, Psychologic, and Psychosocial Effects of Deployment Related Stress to complete the task related to diagnosis and validity of diagnostic instruments. 

The existing committee will form a subcommittee of members with the expertise to respond to the new statement of task.  The subcommittee will meet separately from the main committee and deliberate; they will work with consultants, and following their deliberations write a short report which will be presented to the main committee for consideration and sign off. 

The report on will be completed in 6 months.

For further information email: gulfwarandhealth@nas.edu