title: Competence to give informed consent in acute psychosis is associated with symptoms rather than diagnosis.
abstract: To investigate the association between competence to give informed consent to treatment, specific symptomology and diagnostic category, 110 inpatients diagnosed with DSM-IV acute schizophrenia (n = 64), schizoaffective disorder (n = 25) and bipolar affective disorder (n = 21) were interviewed using the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results indicated no significant difference in competence between the three disorders. Elevated positive, cognitive and excitement PANSS factor scores had lower MacCAT-T scores. Further analyses indicated symptoms that impair cognition; particularly, conceptual disorganisation and poor attention were most consistently related to poor performance on competence tests.
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Research Institute, Locked Bag 11, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia. vhowe@mhri.edu.au
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Foister
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Skene
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Copolov
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Keks
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology