Abstract
BackgroundPatients’ informed consent prior to treatment initiation is an essential component of contemporary clinical practice, but sometimes, patients lack decision-making capacity for treatment. Such capacity can be reliably assessed with standardized tools used, and the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment (MacCAT-T) is one of the most widely used instruments.MethodsThe objective of this study was to translate the MacCAT-T into Greek and evaluate the Greek version’s reliability and validity in psychiatric patients. Thirty-nine psychiatric inpatients were examined with the MacCAT-T, and results showed an excellent inter-rater reliability.ResultsIntraclass correlations ranged from 0.93 to 1 for the individual items of the tool. Severity of psychopathology was negatively correlated with reasoning, appreciation, and expressing a choice (Pearson’s r 0.36, 0.539, and 0.338, respectively), but there were no associations with demographic characteristics of the patients. Of the five factors derived from the brief psychiatric rating scale, anergia was significantly correlated with appreciation, reasoning, and expressing a choice (Pearson’s r 0.46, 0.45, and 0.37, respectively).ConclusionsThe Greek version of the MacCAT-T is a reliable and valid instrument that can provide a standardized measure for assessing treatment decision capacity in Greek psychiatric patients and can be used for evaluation in the clinical practice.
Highlights
In contemporary medical ethics, the right of the patient to accept or to refuse an offered treatment is recognized and respected
Patients’ informed consent prior to treatment initiation is an essential component of current clinical practice
Another study, comparing 59 middleaged and older patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 38 normal comparison subjects, found that psychotic patients performed worse in the understanding item of the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment (MacCAT-T) [7]
Summary
The right of the patient to accept or to refuse an offered treatment is recognized and respected. Patients’ informed consent prior to treatment initiation is an essential component of current clinical practice. Another study, comparing 59 middleaged and older patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 38 normal comparison subjects, found that psychotic patients performed worse in the understanding item of the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment (MacCAT-T) [7]. Patients’ informed consent prior to treatment initiation is an essential component of contemporary clinical practice, but sometimes, patients lack decision-making capacity for treatment. Such capacity can be reliably assessed with standardized tools used, and the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment (MacCAT-T) is one of the most widely used instruments
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