title: Mental capacity and consent to treatment in psychiatric patients: the state of the research.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The past three decades have seen the emergence of the field of decision-making capacity research. The growth has been such that there are several reviews covering a variety of subtopics within the field. The goal is to briefly summarize the state of research.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most studies in this field use the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tools for the decisional capacity assessment. Studies in psychiatric patients indicate incapacity is common (20-30%), but the majority are capable of making treatment decisions. Positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions); negative symptoms (unusual thought content, conceptual disorganization); severity of symptoms; involuntary admission; lack of insight and treatment refusal were the stronger predictors for incapacity in acute and cognitive dysfunction in chronic patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mental capacity has complex relationships with psychopathological variables, and these relationships are different according to diagnostic group. More research is needed to determine the clinical parameters related to the lack of capacity to make treatment decisions in psychiatric patients.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. paola.castelli@gmail.com
authors: Paola C
authors: PC
authors: Candia
authors: Alfredo C
authors: AC
authors: Barba
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000523:psychology*; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000523:psychology*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D012106:Research