A preliminary report on the discrepancy between clinical and test evaluations of competence.

This report demonstrates the discrepancy that can occur between clinical and test evaluations of competence. It presents retrospective examination of 35 assessments of competence performed on 24 subjects by a multidisciplinary competency panel. The findings of the panel are compared with the subjects' results on the Cognitive Competency Test and on the Mini-Mental State Examination. The results show that the multidisciplinary competency panel will more often find subjects competent than indicated by their psychometric test scores. A process approach to the use of tests is recommended. Reliance on tests to decide the outcome of difficult cases does not appear to be warranted.