[REVIEW OF DECISION-MAKING CAPACITY (DMC) ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR TREATMENT AMONG ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE...

The need to evaluate decision-making capacity for treatment among patients over 65 with cognitive impairment has increased because of the ageing of the population. The inability to make decisions about treatment may be part of cognitive impairment and the prevalence of this phenomenon increases according to the age and severity of the cognitive impairment. The lack of a clear definition of the law regarding the assessment of the decision-making capacity for treatment, the lack of structured training as part of the formal medical education and the lack of uniformity in performing assessment of the decision-making capacity for treatment among physicians leads to many errors and inconsistencies in assessment. In addition to physicians' clinical judgement, additional tools have been developed that enable more accurate assessment of the decision-making capacity for treatment of the older patients. Enhancement of the knowledge of the medical staff on the issue of assessment of the decision-making capacity for treatment, together with encouraging the use of validated tools can reduce the rate of errors, evaluate all the components of decision-making capacity for treatment and help older people realize their constitutional rights and maintain individual autonomy. The current review will discuss existing tools for assessing the decision-making capacity for treatment among those aged over 65 with cognitive impairment.