Examining informed consent in persons with schizophrenia

This descriptive study examined the responses of outpatients with schizophrenia to a tool designed to measure comprehension before obtaining informed consent to participate in a research study. We used the Evaluation to Sign Consent (ESC) form to document comprehension in 29 schizophrenia outpatients. Participants living in supervised housing were significantly more likely to require prompts than those living alone (chi(2) = 9.4, p = 0.024). Participants prescribed two antipsychotic medications were significantly more likely to require a prompt than those prescribed only one antipsychotic (chi(2) = 5.12, p = 0.023). Nurse researchers should consider documenting comprehension with the ESC due to its availability, time efficiency, and utility.