Assessing capacity to consent to treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors in dementia using a specific and standardized version of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool (MacCAT-T).

Background: The use of assessment tools has been shown to improve the inter-rater reliability of capacity assessments. However, instrument-based capacity assessments of people with dementia face challenges. In dementia research, measuring capacity with instruments like the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) mostly employ hypothetical treatment vignettes that can overwhelm the abstraction capabilities of people with dementia and are thus not always suitable for this target group.