Clinician Administered PTSD Scale

The Clinically Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) is an in-person clinical assessment for measuring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The CAPS includes 30 items administered by a trained clinician to assess PTSD symptoms, including their frequency and severity. The CAPS distinguishes itself from other PTSD assessments in that it can also assess for current or past diagnoses of PTSD.The CAPS was originally designed by the National Center for PTSD to assess PTSD. This measure was intended to be clinician-administered, and only administered by those clinicians with prior experience, training, and knowledge of PTSD. Previous measures of PTSD typically included introspective (subjective) self-report measures that the patient fills out without the help of a clinician. The clinically-administered PTSD scale was modeled after the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS), a clinician-administered scale to assess depressive features. It should be noted however that the HDRS has been subject to criticism.(lifetime)Sample Question: 'In the past month, have you had any unwanted memories of (EVENT) while you were awake, so not counting dreams?')Test-Retest Reliability: Although relatively high test-retest coefficients have been reported (Time 1 vs. Time 2), no information has been provided about the actual retest time interval. It is not possible to interpret test-retest reliability coefficients in the absence of knowing the retest time interval. Without provision of clear-cut information about the temporal stability of the CAPS-5 over varying intervals of time (e.g., 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, etc.), administration of the CAPS-5 cannot be recommended for assessment of PTSD in clinical populations.