Sb. Billick et al., COMPETENCE TO CONSENT TO HOSPITALIZATION IN THE MEDICAL PATIENT, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 25(2), 1997, pp. 191-196
A slightly modified version (the CQ-Med) of a 15-item competency quest
ionnaire (the CQ) was used to assess competency to consent to hospital
ization in general hospital patients. The purpose of the study was to
determine whether voluntary psychiatric inpatients would score compara
bly with general hospital inpatients using a similar questionnaire. Th
e patients studied performed better in nearly all areas of competency
than the previously studied adult and adolescent psychiatric subjects
using the same questionnaire (modified for the respective study popula
tions). The CQ-Med questionnaire may be a useful instrument for prelim
inary screening of general hospital patients, when indicated, for asse
ssment of competency to consent to hospitalization.