HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ALL ISSUES SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Levine, S. Articles by Koto, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Levine, S. Articles by Koto, K.

Competency of Geropsychiatric Patients to Consent to Voluntary Hospitalization

From Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY.

The authors compared younger (< 60 years old; n = 35) and older ( 60 years old; n = 33) psychiatric patients in their responses to a questionnaire that dealt with voluntary hospitalization. The younger and older groups both did poorly on the total questionnaire. The older population had significantly more difficulty with the questions regarding obtaining release and access to an attorney but answered as well as the younger group those questions pertaining to the nature of the hospitalization. The Mini-Mental State Exam score, age, and the anxiety/depression and hostility factors of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale were the strongest predictors of questionnaire score. The implications of these findings are discussed.