Bioethics in Practice: A Quarterly Column About Medical Ethics – Assessment of Patients' Capacity to Make Medical Decisions

SELECTED READINGS

1. Appelbaum PS. Clinical practice. Assessment of patients' competence to consent to treatment. N Engl J Med. 2007 Nov 1;357(18):1834-1840.
2. Chow GV, Czarny MJ, Hughes MT, Carrese JA. CURVES: a mnemonic for determining medical decision-making capacity and providing emergency treatment in the acute setting. Chest. 2010 Feb;137(2):421-427.
3. Etchells E, Sharpe G, Elliott C, Singer PA. Bioethics for clinicians: 3. Capacity. CMAJ. 1996 Sep 15;155(6):657-661.
4. Jones RC, Holden T. A guide to assessing decision-making capacity. Cleve Clin J Med. 2004 Dec;71(12):971-975.
5. Tunzi M. Can the patient decide? Evaluating patient capacity in practice. Am Fam Physician. 2001 Jul 15;64(2):299-306.