Validity and reliability of Mexican version of MacArthur competence assessment tool for treatment decision (MacCAT-T)...

The MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T), a semi-structured interview, is designed to evaluate patient decision-making capacity, a crucial aspect of patient-physician interaction.

A process study was undertaken of a sample of Mexicans diagnosed with schizophrenia aged between 18 and 50 years to determine the validity and reliability of the MacCAT-T in this population. A ROC curve was plotted to obtain discriminant validity, convergent validity was tested with the VAGUS scale and internal consistency was obtained as a measure of reliability.

Adequate sensitivity (0.95) and specificity (0.75) were obtained with a cut-off point of seven. Significant correlations were observed between the MacCAT-T and the VAGUS scales (r = 0.54 and r = 0.76, p < 0.05), indicative of adequate convergent validity. Internal consistency values were 0.93 for the total score and over 0.80 for all its dimensions.

This study demonstrated that the MacCAT-T is a valid, reliable tool that can be used to assess decision-making capacity in Mexican patients with schizophrenia, which could have a heuristic value for promoting ethical clinical and research practices designed to achieve the crucial balance between patient autonomy and safeguarding.