Title
Capacity to make medical treatment decisions in multiple sclerosis: a potentially remediable deficit
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Publication Date
2010-12
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Multiple Sclerosis; Decision Making; Informed Consent; Mental Competency
Disciplines
Health Services Research | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
Ability to make decisions about medical treatment is compromised in significant numbers of people with neurological and psychiatric illness, and this incapacity frequently corresponds with compromised neuropsychological function. Although cognitive deficits occur often in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), no research has studied decisional capacity in that disease. The present investigation examined ability to understand treatment disclosures, which is a core component of decisional capacity, in 36 people with MS and 16 normal controls. MS patients with diminished neuropsychological function showed poor understanding of treatment disclosures compared to the control group, and diminished new learning and executive function correlated with poorer understanding. Nonetheless, with sufficient cuing, the MS patients with diminished neuropsychological function were able to display understanding that was equivalent to that of the control group. Implications of these results for clinical practice and medical research involving people with MS are discussed.
DOI of Published Version
10.1080/13803391003683062
Source
J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2010 Dec;32(10):1050-61. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology
Related Resources
PubMed ID
20446143
Repository Citation
Basso MR, Candilis PJ, Johnson J, Ghormley C, Combs DR, Ward T. (2010). Capacity to make medical treatment decisions in multiple sclerosis: a potentially remediable deficit. Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center Publications. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803391003683062. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/psych_cmhsr/406