No access

Article

Published Online: February 1992

The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test: A Brief Method for Evaluating Patients' Capacity to Give Informed Consent

Jeffrey S. Janofsky, Richard J. McCarthy, and Marshal F. FoisteinAuthors Info & Affiliations

Publication: Psychiatric Services

Volume 43, Number 2

https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.43.2.132

Get Access

Abstract

The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT), a brief instrument for evaluating the competency of patients to give informed consent or write advance directives, consists of a short essay and a questionnaire for determining patients' understanding of the essay. In a study to validate the instrument, 41 medical and psychiatric inpatients answered the questionnaire after reading the essay while hearing it read aloud. A forensic psychiatrist who was blind to the HCAT scores later examined the patients for competency. A subject's number of correct answers to the HCAT questionnaire was an accurate indicator of clinical competency as assessed by the psychiatrist. The results suggest that the HCAT is a useful tool for rapidly screening patients for competency to make treatment decisions.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Get Access

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Psychiatric Services

Volume 43 • Number 2 • February 1992

Pages: 132 - 136

History

Published in print: February 1992

Published online: 1 April 2006

Authors

Details

Jeffrey S. Janofsky

View all articles by this author

Richard J. McCarthy

View all articles by this author

Marshal F. Foistein

View all articles by this author

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore; Meyer 144, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore

Notes

Meyer 144, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format	RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks
Direct importt
Citation style
Style

Copy to clipboard
Tips for downloading citations

View Options

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR^® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test: A Brief Method for Evaluating Patients' Capacity to Give Informed Consent

Abstract

Get full access to this article