title: [Preliminary study on civil capacity rating scale for mental disabled patients].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To create civil capacity rating scale for mentally disabled patients, and explore its feasibility during the forensic psychiatric expertise.
  
  
  METHODS
  The civil capacity-related items were determined after discussion and consultation. The civil capacity rating scale for mentally disabled patients was established and the manual was created according to the logistic sequence of the assessment. The rating scale was used during the civil assessment in four institutes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 14 items in civil capacity rating scale for mentally disabled patients. Two hundred and two subjects were recruited and divided into three groups according to the experts' opinion on their civil capacities: full civil capacity, partial civil capacity and no civil capacity. The mean score of the three groups were 2.32 +/- 2.45, 11.62 +/- 4.01 and 25.02 +/- 3.90, respectively, and there was statistical differences among the groups. The Cronbach alpha of the rating scale was 0.9724, and during the split-reliability test, the two-splited part of the rating scale were highly correlated (r = 0.9729, P = 0.000). The Spearman correlative coefficient between each item and the score of the rating scale was from 0.643 to 0.882 (P = 0.000). There was good correlation between the conclusion according to the rating scale and the experts' opinion (kappa = 0.841, P = 0.000). When the discriminate analysis was used, 7 items were included into the discrimination equation, and 92.6% subjects were identified as the correct groups using the equation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is satisfied reliability and validity on civil capacity rating scale for mentally disabled patients. The rating scale can be used as effective tools to grade their civil capacity during the forensic expertise.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice, PR China, Shanghai 200063, China. zhangqinting@126.com
authors.forename: Qin-Ting
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Wei-Xiong
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Fu-Yin
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D055815:Young Adult