title: A clinical study of competency to consent to treatment in pediatrics.
abstract: A 19-item competency questionnaire for pediatric patients (CQ-Peds) was used to evaluate competency to consent to treatment in pediatric outpatients and inpatients at two university hospitals. Sixty-nine consecutive English-speaking pediatric outpatients were studied at Hospital A, and 23 consecutive English-speaking pediatric inpatients were studied at Hospital B. Demographic data were statistically analyzed using the chi-square test, and there were no significant differences between the competent and incompetent groups (using CQ-Peds scores and cutoffs). CQ-Peds scores correlated highly with age (r = .947, p < .003; Outpatient Hospital A). Using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC) as a screen for psychopathology, the presence of psychiatric disturbance, per se, did not correlate with low CQ-Peds scores, nor was there a statistical difference between children from Spanish-speaking households and those from English-speaking households (Inpatient Hospital B). Overall, the children scored well on the CQ-Peds and demonstrated a good appreciation for their illnesses and treatment. The CQ-Peds score correlated highly with the that on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Revised Edition (WISC-R) vocabulary, comprehension, and similarities subtests and also with the Wide-Range Achievement Test-III (WRAT-III) reading assessment score (Inpatient Hospital B).
authors.affiliation: New York Medical College, USA.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Billick
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Burgert
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Friberg
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Downer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bruni-Solhkhah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000298:Adolescent, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D007802:Language; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000145:classification*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000592:standards*; D011932:Reading; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States