title: The Greek version of the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment: reliability and validity. Evaluation of capacity for treatment decisions in Greek psychiatric patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients' informed consent prior to treatment initiation is an essential component of contemporary clinical practice, but sometimes, patients lack decision-making capacity for treatment. Such capacity can be reliably assessed with standardized tools used, and the MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment (MacCAT-T) is one of the most widely used instruments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The objective of this study was to translate the MacCAT-T into Greek and evaluate the Greek version's reliability and validity in psychiatric patients. Thirty-nine psychiatric inpatients were examined with the MacCAT-T, and results showed an excellent inter-rater reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Intraclass correlations ranged from 0.93 to 1 for the individual items of the tool. Severity of psychopathology was negatively correlated with reasoning, appreciation, and expressing a choice (Pearson's r 0.36, 0.539, and 0.338, respectively), but there were no associations with demographic characteristics of the patients. Of the five factors derived from the brief psychiatric rating scale, anergia was significantly correlated with appreciation, reasoning, and expressing a choice (Pearson's r 0.46, 0.45, and 0.37, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Greek version of the MacCAT-T is a reliable and valid instrument that can provide a standardized measure for assessing treatment decision capacity in Greek psychiatric patients and can be used for evaluation in the clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Private Practice Psychiatrist, Ioannina, Greece. vaios.peritogiannis@medai.gr.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bilanakis
authors.forename: Aikaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vratsista
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kalampokis
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Papamichael
authors.forename: Vaios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Peritogiannis