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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Measurement of advance directive and medical treatment decision-making capacity of older adults | | Author(s) | Lori Frank, Michael Smyer, Thomas Grisso |
| Journal title | Journal of Mental Health and Aging, vol 5, no 3, Fall 1999 |
| Pages | pp 257-274 |
| Keywords | Patients ; Mental health [elderly] ; Rights [elderly] ; Wills ; Medical care ; Terminal care ; Evaluation ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The objective of this study was to characterise two components of decisional competence relevant to advance directive (AD) completion and medical treatment decision-making among a subsample of older adults hospitalised in acute care settings. Subjects were recruited from four acute care facilities in the northeast US, and data are reported for 43 adults, mean age 70.7 years (range 62-78). Two main outcome variables were examined: ability to understand disclosed information, and ability to rationally manage that information. Independent variables examined include cognitive status, level of depression, medication use, educational level, and verbal ability. Cognitive status was strongly related to both understanding and rational manipulation of disclosed information. Verbal ability was related to performance on the understanding task, but not the rational manipulation task. The relationship of non-documented cognitive impairment in decision-making skills among hospitalised older people suggests that the current disclosure process in the US may be less than optimal for many individuals. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-991022222 A |
| Classmark | LF: D: IKR: VTH: LK: LV: 4C: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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