CAP — Confusion Assessment Protocol

What this tool is and how to interpret its evidence

The Confusion Assessment Protocol was developed for people recovering from traumatic brain injury in inpatient rehabilitation. It characterises post-traumatic confusional state across multiple behavioural and cognitive dimensions and supports serial description of recovery. The clinical problem overlaps superficially with delirium because both involve acute cognitive disturbance and fluctuation, but the protocol's population, natural history and intended decisions are specific to TBI rehabilitation.

Sherer and colleagues reported the multidimensional assessment in 2005. The study supports reliability and clinical characterisation of acute confusion after brain injury; it does not establish diagnostic accuracy for DSM or ICD delirium in general medical, surgical or critical-care populations. Presenting it among standard delirium screens risks encouraging use outside the condition for which it was developed.

The page should move to a related acute-confusion or neurological-rehabilitation collection while retaining a cross-link from the main directory. It can describe purpose, setting, domains and evidence without reproducing the protocol. The record should not contribute to the core delirium-family count. Readers looking for delirium superimposed on neurological injury should be directed to setting-appropriate delirium assessments and specialist judgement, while those studying post-traumatic confusional state can follow the primary article for the exact research method.