scholarly journals Reliability of mental capacity assessments in psychiatric in-patients

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Cairns ◽  
Clementine Maddock ◽  
Alec Buchanan ◽  
Anthony S. David ◽  
Peter Hayward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Excellent Agreement ◽  
Interrater Reliability ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Clinical Interview ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Of Agreement

BackgroundPrevious work on the reliability of mental capacity assessments in patients with psychiatric illness has been limited.AimsTo describe the interrater reliability of two independent assessments of capacity to consent to treatment, as well as assessments made by a panel of clinicians based on the same interview.MethodFifty-five patients were interviewed by two interviewers 1–7 days apart and a binary (yes/no) capacity judgement was made, guided by the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T). Four senior clinicians used transcripts of the interviews to judge capacity.ResultsThere was excellent agreement between the two interviewers for capacity judgements made at separate interviews (kappa=0.82). A high level of agreement was seen between senior clinicians for capacity judgements of the same interview (mean kappa=0.84)ConclusionsIn combination with a clinical interview, the MacCAT–T can be used to produce highly reliable judgements of capacity.

scholarly journals Validation of the French Version of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) in a French Sample of Individuals with Schizophrenia: Validation de la version française de l’instrument d’évaluation des compétences MacArthur-traitement (MacCAT-T) dans un échantillon français de personnes souffrant de schizophrénie

2020 ◽  
pp. 070674372096644
Author(s):  
Stéphane Raffard ◽  
Cindy Lebrun ◽  
Yasmine Laraki ◽  
Delphine Capdevielle
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
French Version ◽  
Capacity To Consent ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
High Degree

Background: Assessing an individual’s capacity to consent to treatment is a complex and challenging task for psychiatrists and health-care professionals. Diminished capacity to consent to pharmacological treatment is a common concern in individuals with schizophrenia. The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) is the most common tool used in individuals with schizophrenia to evaluate the decision-making abilities for judgments about competence to consent to treatment. This instrument assesses patients’ competence to make treatment decisions by examining their capacities in 4 areas: understanding information relevant to their condition and the recommended treatment, reasoning about the potential risks and benefits of their choices, appreciating the nature of their situation and the consequences of their choices, and expressing a choice. Despite its importance, there is no French version of this scale. Furthermore, its factor structure has never been explored, although validated measures are strongly needed to further detect deficits in patients’ decision-making abilities. The goal of this study was thus to empirically validate a French version of the MacCAT-T in a French sample of individuals with schizophrenia. Method: In this cross-sectional study, we included 125 inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia from the University Department of Adult Psychiatry in Montpellier. The MacCAT-T was administered to patients by a trained psychologist. Patients were also assessed for severity of symptoms, insight into illness, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Inter-rater reliability and psychometric properties including internal consistency, construct validity, and discriminant and divergent validity were also investigated. Results: The MacCAT-T’s internal consistency was high (Cronbach α of 0.91). A high degree of inter-rater reliability was found for all the areas of the MacCAT-T (intraclass correlation coefficient range, 0.92 to 0.98). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 2-factor model. The factor analysis explained 50.03% of the total score variation. Component 1 included all subparts of “understanding.” Component 2 included all subparts of “appreciation” and “reasoning” and was therefore labeled “reflexivity.” After Bonferroni corrections, decision-making capacity was positively associated with insight and the severity of psychotic symptoms but not with sociodemographic variables except for education. Conclusions: The MacCAT-T demonstrated a high degree of inter-rater reliability and strong psychometric properties. The French version of the MacCAT-T is a valid instrument to assess the decision-making capacity to consent to treatment in a French sample of individuals with schizophrenia.

Assessing capacity to consent to treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors in dementia using a specific and standardized version of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool (MacCAT-T)

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Mueller ◽  
Julia Haberstroh ◽  
Maren Knebel ◽  
Frank Oswald ◽  
Roman Kaspar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
Cholinesterase Inhibitors ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Rater Reliability ◽  
Capacity To Consent ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Hypothetical Treatment ◽  
Consent To Treatment

ABSTRACTBackground:The use of assessment tools has been shown to improve the inter-rater reliability of capacity assessments. However, instrument-based capacity assessments of people with dementia face challenges. In dementia research, measuring capacity with instruments like the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) mostly employ hypothetical treatment vignettes that can overwhelm the abstraction capabilities of people with dementia and are thus not always suitable for this target group. The primary aim of this study was to provide a standardized real informed consent paradigm that enables the dementia-specific properties of capacity to consent to treatment in people with dementia to be identified in a real informed consent process that is both externally valid and ethically justifiable.Methods:The sample consisted of 53 people with mild to moderate dementia and a group of 133 people without cognitive impairment. Rather than using a hypothetical treatment vignette, we used a standardized version of the MacCAT-T to assess capacity to consent to treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors in people with dementia. Inter-rater reliability, item statistics, and psychometric properties were also investigated.Results:Intraclass correlations (ICCs) (0.951–0.990) indicated high inter-rater reliability of the standardized real informed consent paradigm. In the dementia group, performance on different items of the MacCAT-T varied. Most people with dementia were able to express a treatment choice, and were aware of the need to take a tablet. Further information on the course of the disorder and the benefits and risks of the treatment were less understood, as was comparative reasoning regarding treatment alternatives.Conclusion:The standardized real informed consent paradigm enabled us to detect dementia-specific characteristics of patients’ capacity to consent to treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors. In order to determine suitable enhanced consent procedures for this treatment, we recommend the consideration of MacCAT-T results on an item level. People with dementia seem to understand only basic information. Our data indicate that one useful strategy to enhance capacity to consent is to reduce attention and memory demands as far as possible.

scholarly journals Mental capacity in psychiatric patients

2007 ◽  
Vol 191 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Okai ◽  
Gareth Owen ◽  
Hugh McGuire ◽  
Swaran Singh ◽  
Rachel Churchill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interrater Reliability ◽  
Clinical Epidemiology ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Capacity Assessment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
Psychiatric Population

BackgroundMental capacity is central to legal and ethical debates on the use of compulsion in psychiatry.AimsTo describe the clinical epidemiology of mental incapacity in patients with psychiatric disorders, including interrater reliability of assessments, frequency in the psychiatric population and associations of mental incapacity.MethodCross-sectional studies of capacity to consent to treatment for psychiatric patients were systematically reviewed from Medline, EMBASE and PsycInfo databases. Information on the reliability of assessments, frequency and associations of mental incapacity was extracted.ResultsOut of 37 papers reviewed, 29 different capacity assessment tools were identified. Studies were highly heterogeneous in their measurement and definitions of capacity. Interrater reliabilities between tools were high. Studies indicate incapacity is common (median 29%) but the majority of psychiatric in-patients are capable of making treatment decisions. Psychosis, severity of symptoms, involuntary admission and treatment refusal were the strongest risk factors for incapacity.ConclusionsMental capacity can be reliably assessed. The majority of psychiatric in-patients have capacity, and socio-demographic variables do not have a major impact but clinical ones do.

Competency of aMCI patients to consent to cholinesterase treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-216
Author(s):  
Etsuko Oshima ◽  
Shintaro Takenoshita ◽  
Risa Iwai ◽  
Mayumi Yabe ◽  
Nao Imai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Clinical Judgement ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Amnestic Mci ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
Medical Choice ◽  
Tool Treatment

AbstractBackground:In medical practice, a patient’s loss of competency is a major obstacle when choosing a treatment and a starting treatment program smoothly. A large number of studies have revealed the lack of medical competency in patients with dementia. However, there have been only a few reports focusing on the capacity of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to make a medical choice.Methods:In this study, we evaluated the competency of 40 patients with amnestic MCI (aMCI) and 33 normal subjects to make a medical choice using the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Treatment (MacCAT-T). We compared the judgement of a team conference using the recorded semi-structured interview with the clinical judgement of a chief clinician.Results:A team conference concluded that 12 aMCI patients had no competency, and the clinical judgement, without any special interview, judged that five aMCI patients had no competency. All subjects in the control groups were judged to be competent to consent to treatment by both clinicians and the team conference.Conclusions:Without supplementary tools such as explanatory documents, not a few patients with aMCI were judged by a team conference to have no competency to consent to therapy even in a relatively simple and easy case. In contrast, clinical physicians tended to evaluate the competency of aMCI patients in a generous manner.

scholarly journals Comparison of Four Streptococcus pneumoniae Urinary Antigen Tests Using Automated Readers

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 827
Author(s):  
Alicia Yoke Wei Wong ◽  
Alexander Tony Arvind Johnsson ◽  
Karolina Ininbergs ◽  
Simon Athlin ◽  
Volkan Özenci
Keyword(s):  
Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Excellent Agreement ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Urinary Antigen ◽  
Clinical Routine ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Antigen Tests ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Of Agreement

Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen tests (UATs) may be interpreted using automatic readers to potentially automate sample incubation and provide standardized results reading. Here, we evaluated four UATs the BinaxNOW S. pneumoniae Antigen Card (Abbott, Chicago, USA), ImmuView S. pneumoniae and Legionella (SSI Diagnostica, Hillerød, Denmark), STANDARD F S. pneumoniae Ag FIA (SD Biosensor, Gyeonggi, South Korea), and Sofia S. pneumoniae FIA (Quidel Corporation, San Diego, USA) with their respective benchtop readers for their ability to detect S. pneumoniae urinary antigen. We found that these assays had a sensitivity of 76.9–86.5%, and specificity of 84.2–89.7%, with no significant difference found among the four UATs. The assays had a high level of agreement with each other, with 84.5% of samples testing consistently across all four assays. The automatically and visually read test results from the two immunochromatographic assays, BinaxNOW and ImmuView, were compared and showed excellent agreement between the two types of reading. Immunofluorescent-based assays, Sofia and STANDARD F, had significantly less time to detect compared to the two immunochromatographic assays due to having less assay setup procedures and shorter sample incubation times. In conclusion, the four UATs performed similarly in the detection of S. pneumoniae urinary antigen, and readers can bring increased flexibility to running UATs in the clinical routine.

scholarly journals Decisional capacity to consent to treatment and research in patients affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment. A systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Giovanna Parmigiani ◽  
Antonio Del Casale ◽  
Gabriele Mandarelli ◽  
Benedetta Barchielli ◽  
Georgios D. Kotzalidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Decisional Capacity ◽  
Capacity To Consent ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Consent To Treatment

ABSTRACT Objectives: To perform a meta-analysis of clinical studies on the differences in treatment or research decision-making capacity among patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and healthy comparisons (HCs). Design: A systematic search was conducted on Medline/Pubmed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus. Standardized mean differences and random-effects model were used in all cases. Setting: The United States, France, Japan, and China. Participants: Four hundred and ten patients with MCI, 149 with AD, and 368 HCs were included. Measurements: The studies we included in the analysis assessed decisional capacity to consent by the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MAcCAT-T), MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR), Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI), and University of California Brief Assessment of Capacity to Consent (UBACC). Results: We identified 109 potentially eligible studies from 1672 records, and 7 papers were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that there was significant impairment in a decision-making capacity in MCI patients compared to the HCs group in terms of Understanding (SMD = −1.04, 95% CI: −1.31 to −0.77, P < 0.001; I2 = 52%, P = 0.07), Appreciation (SMD = −0.51, 95% CI: −0.66 to −0.36, P < 0.001; I2 = 0%, P = 0.97), and Reasoning (SMD = −0.62, 95% CI: −0.77, −0.47, P < 0.001; I2=0%, P =0.46). MCI patients scored significantly higher in Understanding (SMD = 1.50, 95% CI: 0.91, 2.09, P = 0.01, I2 = 78%, P = 0.00001) compared to patients affected by AD. Conclusions: Patients affected by MCI are at higher risk of impaired capacity to consent to treatment and research compared to HCs, despite being at lower risk compared to patients affected by AD. Clinicians and researchers need to carefully evaluate decisional capacity in MCI patients providing informed consent.

scholarly journals MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment in Alzheimer disease: cross-cultural adaptation

2017 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Luiza Santos ◽  
Maria Fernanda Barroso de Sousa ◽  
José Pedro Simões Neto ◽  
Elodie Bertrand ◽  
Daniel C. Mograbi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Cross Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Decision Making Capacity ◽  
Consent To Treatment ◽  
Memory Awareness ◽  
Global Cognition ◽  
Linear Regressions

ABSTRACT Objective: We adapted the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) to Brazilian Portuguese, pilot testing it on mild and moderate patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: The cross-cultural process required six steps. Sixty-six patients with AD were assessed for competence to consent to treatment, global cognition, working memory, awareness of disease, functionality, depressive symptoms and dementia severity. Results: The items had semantic, idiomatic, conceptual and experiential equivalence. We found no difference between mild and moderate patients with AD on the MacCAT-T domains. The linear regressions showed that reasoning (p = 0.000) and functional status (p = 0.003) were related to understanding. Understanding (p = 0.000) was related to appreciation and reasoning. Awareness of disease (p = 0.001) was related to expressing a choice. Conclusions: The MacCAT-T adaptation was well-understood and the constructs of the original version were maintained. The results of the pilot study demonstrated an available Brazilian tool focused on decision-making capacity in AD.

scholarly journals Diminished capacities to make treatment decision for COVID-19 vaccination in schizophrenia

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephane Raffard ◽  
Sophie Bayard ◽  
Margot Eisenblaetter ◽  
Philippe Tattard ◽  
Jerome Attal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Competence Assessment ◽  
Make Treatment Decision ◽  
Vaccination Rates

Abstract Recent evidence suggests that schizophrenia patients are at high risk for severe COVID-19 and should be prioritized for vaccination. However, impaired decision-making capacities could negatively affect the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination in this population. Competence to consent to COVID-19 vaccination was assessed in 80 outpatients with schizophrenia. Using the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment, 56.3% of the sample were classified as having diminished mental capacity. Poor performance was associated with lower vaccination rates, poorer cognition and higher level of psychotic symptoms. Developing interventions for enhancing informed consent for vaccination is urgent within this population.

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