Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Aging and Health
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bosquet, A.
Right arrow Articles by Mahé, I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bosquet, A.
Right arrow Articles by Mahé, I.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Vote of Acute Medical Inpatients

A Prospective Study

Antoine Bosquet

APHP, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, Université Paris 7, antoine.bosquet{at}lmr.aphp.fr

Amar Medjkane

APHP, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, Université Paris 7

Dorit Voitel-Warneke

APHP, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, Université Paris 7

Philippe Vinceneux

APHP, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, Université Paris 7

Isabelle Mahé

APHP, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital Louis Mourier, Colombes, Université Paris 7

Objective: There may be ethical issues associated with allowing certain inpatients to vote as some may be cognitively impaired. During the 2007 elections in France, we conducted a prospective observational study on voting among hospitalized patients. Method: Patients hospitalized in an Internal Medicine and Geriatric Department on election day were included. The primary outcome was the turnout among registered inpatients, and secondary outcomes were Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores and reasons for abstention. Results: Of 142 inpatients (mean age 73 years), 84 were eligible to vote, and 22 actually voted (turnout 25.2%). Among the voters, 23% had an MMSE score of less than 12; 58% of abstentions were procedure-related. Discussion: In our study, some inpatients did not vote as a result of procedural issues. When patients with severe cognitive impairment vote, there is a potential risk of vote diversion. Voting procedures should be improved to give inpatients easier access to the ballot while protecting them from the risk of fraud.

Key Words: vote • voting rights • inpatient • dementia • cognitive impairment

Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 21, No. 5, 699-712 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0898264309338297
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?