EVALUATING DECISIONS IN MENTAL-CAPACITY ASSESSMENTS

One hundred and eleven capacity assessments are described where three criteria to assess the ability to make decisions were investigated. These were ability to identify decision options, the ability to understand the consequences of decisions and the ability to implement decisions. The effectiveness of these criteria in differentiating capable/incapable patients supports the idea of decision-making capacity or decision-specific capacity. The criteria applied, nevertheless, are not sufficient in all cases to determine capacity.