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Prevalence
People admitted to psychiatric hospitals commonly lack the mental capacity to make treatment decisions

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ebmh.12.1.31

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    QUESTION

    Question:

    What proportion of people admitted to psychiatric hospitals have the mental capacity to make decisions on treatment?

    Population:

    350 people consecutively admitted for psychiatric care. Exclusions: no written informed consent; change in choice or resistance to assessment; residence outside catchment area or transferred from other inpatient facilities.

    Setting:

    Three general adult psychiatric wards serving an inner city area, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK; February 2006–June 2007.

    Assessment:

    Information on patient’s presenting problems, diagnosis and treatment plan were obtained from medical records. The clinical researcher ascertained whether the main decision about treatment was stabilisation with drugs, admission to a place of safety or further assessment. Decision about a patient’s mental capacity was based on a clinical assessment and the McArthur competence assessment tool for treatment. The McArthur tool consists of an …

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    Footnotes

    • Source of funding: The Wellcome Trust, UK.

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests: None.