A clinical study of competency in psychiatric inpatients.
S. B. Billick, P. W. Naylor, M. F. Majeske, W. Burgert, 3rd and G. P. Davis,
Bull. Amer. Acad. Psychiatry & the Law
24(4): 505-11, 1996.
A 15-item questionnaire used to evaluate competency to consent to psychiatric hospitalization was
validated using a blind forensic psychiatric interview. The statistical correlation was excellent with
p < .001. The questionnaire also correlated highly with the Mini-Mental State exam (p < .05),
the
Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (p < .05), and the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised
vocabulary subtest (p < .01). This questionnaire may be a useful instrument for preliminary
screening
of psychiatric patients for competency to consent to hospitalization and general psychiatric treatment.