Consultation Service Utilization
In instances of parent-child disagreement, 65% of physicians felt
either somewhat or very likely to obtain an ethics consultation (Figure
4). Age was only a consideration for 10% of physicians, and a
combination of age and maturity was considered in 15% of patients. 58%
were somewhat or very likely to obtain a psychiatric consultation to
evaluate the child’s decision-making capacity (Figure 4). A minority of
physicians (40%) altered their responses based on age and/or maturity,
with consideration of only age in 10% and a combination of age and
maturity in 25% (5% did not follow a discernable pattern).