mCAM-ED: Modified Confusion Assessment Method for the ED
2014mCAM-ED is an emergency-department pathway that applies CAM-family principles to screening, assessment and subsequent management in older patients.
Classification
A tool may belong to more than one category. Select a linked category to see other relevant profiles.
Tool and original sources
No direct copy is linked here. The original paper and a Google Images search are available below. Image results may be unofficial; check the version and source before use.
Original and selected diagnostic-accuracy papers
- Original paperGrossmann FF, Hasemann W, Graber A, Bingisser R, Kressig RW, Nickel CH. Screening, detection and management of delirium in the emergency department - a pilot study on the feasibility of a new algorithm for use in older emergency department patients: the modified Confusion Assessment Method for the Emergency Department (mCAM-ED). Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine. 2014;22:19. doi: 10.1186/1757-7241-22-19. PMID: 24625212.
This is the original published source for mCAM-ED. It is the main source for the method, its intended use and the evidence available at publication.
Article PDF: CC BY. This licence applies to the article PDF and does not grant rights to reproduce the tool.
- Selected diagnostic-accuracy studyHasemann W, Grossmann FF, Stadler R, Bingisser R, Breil D, Hafner M, et al. Screening and detection of delirium in older ED patients: performance of the modified Confusion Assessment Method for the Emergency Department (mCAM-ED). A two-step tool. Internal and emergency medicine. 2018;13(6):915-922. doi: 10.1007/s11739-017-1781-y. PMID: 29290048.
This diagnostic-accuracy study evaluated mCAM-ED in emergency department against an independent DSM-IV-TR clinical assessment. It reported sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 98% in 286 consecutive emergency patients aged 65 years or older.
At a glance
- Purpose
- Episodic assessment
- Population
- Adult
- Setting
- Emergency department
- Time
- variable
- Items
- 4
- Score or threshold
- CAM-derived emergency-department classification; see the source.
Format: A four-feature emergency-department CAM pathway linking assessment and subsequent management. The prompts, feature wording and complete operational algorithm are not reproduced here.
Evidence
Reported sensitivity and specificity
Later validation or evaluation · 2018 — pmid:29290048
- Denominator
- Reported source unit: 286 (analysis unit not fully reconciled)
- Reference standard
- Attending geriatrician DSM-IV-TR delirium assessment, free of other clinical duties during the study assessment
Earliest DTA evaluation identified in the current audit; see the linked source and methodological caveats.
More evidence and citation details
- Full name
- Modified Confusion Assessment Method for the ED
- Also known as
- mCAM-ED, modified CAM for the Emergency Department, CAM-ED
- Related profiles
- CAM
- Evidence summary
- single
- Diagnostic-accuracy studies
- 1
- Reference standard
- Attending geriatrician DSM-IV-TR delirium assessment, free of other clinical duties during the study assessment
- Citation
- Grossmann FF, Hasemann W, Graber A, Bingisser R, Kressig RW, Nickel CH Screening, detection and management of delirium in the emergency department - a pilot study on the feasibility of a new algorithm for use in older emergency department patients: the modified Confusion Assessment Method for the Emergency Department (mCAM-ED) Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine. 2014;22:19. PMID 24625212
Copyright and reuse
- Information checked
- 2026-07-19
Instrument-specific terms apply. See the access and copyright policy or send a correction.
Sources checked 2026-07-29. How profiles are prepared.