Characteristics of patients referred to psychiatrists for competency evaluations.
Requests for inpatient psychiatric consultations at a general hospital over a three-year period were reviewed. Of 2,423 referrals, 79 (3.3%) were specifically for evaluation of competency, and 78.5% of those cases resulted in a diagnosis of an organic mental disorder. The proportion of referrals with organic mental disorder was significantly greater than it was in a control population of patients referred for consultation for any reason. Patients with organic mental disorder who were referred for competency evaluation had greater cognitive impairment than did control subjects.
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RC
Golinger
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JP
Fedoroff
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States