Capacity — Medical Ethics Made Accessible (2024)

OVERVIEW

We are familiar with the doctrine of informed consent—describing a disease, treatment options, associated risks and benefits, potential for complications, and alternatives, including no treatment. Not only must the patient be informed, and the decision free from any coercion, but the patient also must have capacity to make the decision.

We often care for patients in whom decision-making capacity comes into question. This includes populations with depression, psychosis, dementia, stroke, severe personality disorders, developmental delay, comatose patients, as well as those with impaired attentional capacity (e.g. acute pain) or general debility (e.g. metastatic cancer).

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

It is important to differentiate capacity from competency. Competency is a global assessment and a legal determination made by a judge in court. Capacity, on the other hand, is a functional assessment regarding a particular decision. Capacity is not static, and it can be performed by any clinician familiar with the patient. A hospitalist often is well positioned to make a capacity determination given established rapport with the patient and familiarity with the details of the case.

To make this determination, a hospitalist needs to know how to assess capacity. Although capacity usually is defined by state law and varies by jurisdiction, clinicians generally can assume it includes one or more of the four key components:

1 - COMMUNICATiON

The patient needs to be able to express a treatment choice, and this decision needs to be stable enough for the treatment to be implemented. Changing one’s decision in itself would not bring a patient’s capacity into question, so long as the patient was able to explain the rationale behind the switch. Frequent changes back and forth in the decision-making, however, could be indicative of an underlying psychiatric disorder or extreme indecision, which could bring capacity into question.

2 - understanding

The patient needs to recall conversations about treatment, to make the link between causal relationships, and to process probabilities for outcomes. Problems with memory, attention span, and intelligence can affect one’s understanding.

3 - appreciation

The patient should be able to identify the illness, treatment options, and likely outcomes as things that will affect him or her directly. A lack of appreciation usually stems from a denial based on intelligence (lack of a capability to understand) or emotion, or a delusion that the patient is not affected by this situation the same way and will have a different outcome.

4 - rationalization or reasoning

The patient needs to be able to weigh the risks and benefits of the treatment options presented to come to a conclusion in keeping with their goals and best interests, as defined by their personal set of values. This often is affected in psychosis, depression, anxiety, phobias, delirium, and dementia.

risk-related standards of capacity

Although some question the notion, given our desire to facilitate management beneficial to the patient, the general consensus is that we have a lower threshold for capacity for consent to treatments that are low-risk and high-benefit. We would then have a somewhat higher threshold for capacity to refuse that same treatment. Stemming from a desire to protect patients from harm, we have a relatively higher threshold for capacity to make decisions regarding high-risk, low-benefit treatments. For the remainder of cases (low risk/low benefit; high risk/high benefit), as well as treatments that significantly impact a patient’s lifestyle (e.g. dialysis, amputation), we have a low capacity to let patients decide for themselves.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Clinicians should be thorough in documenting details in coming to a capacity determination, both as a means to formalize the thought process running through the four determinants of capacity, and in order to document for future reference. Cases in which it could be reasonable to call a consultant for those familiar with the assessment basics include:

• Cases in which a determination of lack of capacity could adversely affect the hospitalist’s relationship with the patient;

• Cases in which the hospitalist lacks the time to properly perform the evaluation;

• Particularly difficult or high-stakes cases (e.g. cases that might involve legal proceedings); and

• Cases in which significant mental illness affects a patient’s capacity.11

IDENTIFY SUBSTITUTE DECISION-MAKERS

Early involvement of potential surrogate decision-makers is wise for patients in whom capacity is questioned, both for obtaining collateral history as well as initiating dialogue as to the patient’s wishes. When a patient is found to lack capacity, resources to utilize to help make a treatment decision include existing advance directives and substitute decision-makers, such as durable power of attorneys (DPOAs) and family members. In those rare cases in which clinicians are unable to reach a consensus about a patient’s capacity, an ethics consult should be considered.

BOTTOM LINE

In cases in which capacity is in question, a clinician’s case-by-case review of the four components of capacity—communicating a choice, understanding, appreciation, and rationalization and reasoning—is warranted to help determine whether a patient has capacity. In cases in which a second opinion is warranted, psychiatry, geriatrics, or ethics consults could be utilized.