title: The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test: a brief method for evaluating patients' capacity to give informed consent.
abstract: The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT), a brief instrument for evaluating the competency of patients to give informed consent or write advance directives, consists of a short essay and a questionnaire for determining patients' understanding of the essay. In a study to validate the instrument, 41 medical and psychiatric inpatients answered the questionnaire after reading the essay while bearing it read aloud. A forensic psychiatrist who was blind to the HCAT scores later examined the patients for competency. A subject's number of correct answers to the HCAT questionnaire was an accurate indicator of clinical competency as assessed by the psychiatrist. The results suggest that the HCAT is a useful tool for rapidly screening patients for competency to make treatment decisions.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Janofsky
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Folstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016223:Advance Directives / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D032882:Comprehension; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016224:Living Wills / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011594:Psychometrics; D014481:United States