Medical Decision-Making Incapacity among Newly Diagnosed Older Patients with Hematological Malignancy Receiving First Line Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study of Patients and Physicians.

Autor: Koji Sugano, Toru Okuyama, Shinsuke Iida, Hirokazu Komatsu, Takashi Ishida, Shigeru Kusumoto, Megumi Uchida, Tomohiro Nakaguchi, Yosuke Kubota, Yoshinori Ito, Kazuhisa Takahashi, Tatsuo Akechi
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 8, p e0136163 (2015)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136163
Popis: Decision-making capacity to provide informed consent regarding treatment is essential among cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to identify the frequency of decision-making incapacity among newly diagnosed older patients with hematological malignancy receiving first-line chemotherapy, to examine factors associated with incapacity and assess physicians' perceptions of patients' decision-making incapacity.Consecutive patients aged 65 years or over with a primary diagnosis of malignant lymphoma or multiple myeloma were recruited. Decision-making capacity was assessed using the Structured Interview for Competency and Incompetency Assessment Testing and Ranking Inventory-Revised (SICIATRI-R). Cognitive impairment, depressive condition and other possible associated factors were also evaluated.Among 139 eligible patients registered for this study, 114 completed the survey. Of these, 28 (25%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 17%-32%) were judged as having some extent of decision-making incompetency according to SICIATRI-R. Higher levels of cognitive impairment and increasing age were significantly associated with decision-making incapacity. Physicians experienced difficulty performing competency assessment (Cohen's kappa -0.54).Decision-making incapacity was found to be a common and under-recognized problem in older patients with cancer. Age and assessment of cognitive impairment may provide the opportunity to find patients that are at a high risk of showing decision-making incapacity.
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