Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) assesses subjective distress caused by a traumatic event. This tool is not diagnostic for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but is an appropriate tool for measuring subjective reactions to a specific traumatic event.
During the past 7 days, how often did the following problems bother you?
Test
1. Any reminder brought back feelings about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
2. I had trouble staying asleep.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
3. Other things kept making me think about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
4. I felt irritable and angry
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
5. I avoided letting myself get upset when I thought about it or was reminded of it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
6. I thought about it when I didn't mean to
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
7. I felt as if it hadn't happened or wasn't real.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
8. I stayed away from reminders about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
9. Pictures about it popped into my mind.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
10. I was jumpy and easily startled.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
11. I tried not to think about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
12. I was aware that I still had a lot of feelings about it, but I didn't deal with them.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
13. My feelings about it were kind of numb.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
14. I found myself acting or feeling as though I was back at that time.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
15. I had trouble falling asleep.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
16. I had waves of strong feelings about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
17. I tried to remove it from my memory.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
18. I had trouble concentrating.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
19. Reminders of it caused me to have physical reactions, such as sweating, trouble breathing, nausea, or a pounding heart.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
20. I had dreams about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
21. I felt watchful or on-guard.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
22. I tried not to talk about it.
Not at all
A little bit
Moderately
Quite a bit
Extremely
Intrusion: (range: 0-32 points) obsessive thoughts, nightmares, obsessive feelings and images, dissociative re-experiencing.
Avoidance: (range: 0-32 points) suppression of sensitivity, avoidance of feelings, situations and ideas.
Hyperarousal: (range: 0-24 points) anger, irritability, increased vigilance, difficulty concentrating.
Total score:
24-32 points – PTSD is a clinical problem. Even if people with high scores on the test do not have full PTSD, they should be suspected of having partial PTSD or specific symptoms (Asukai & Kato 2002)
33-38 points – threshold value for a probable diagnosis of PTSD (Creamer et al. 2002)
39-88 points – enough to suppress the functioning of your immune system (even 10 years after the event) (Kawamura et al. 2001).
