incompetence
[in-kom´pĕ-tens] 1. inability to function properly.
2. the legal status of a person determined by the court to be unable to manage his own affairs.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
in·com·pe·tence
, incompetency (in-kom'pe-tens, in-kom'pĕ-ten-sē), 1. The quality of being incompetent or incapable of performing the allotted function, especially failure of cardiac or venous valves to close completely.
2. In forensic psychiatry, the inability to distinguish right from wrong or to manage one's affairs.
[L. in-, neg. + com-peto, strive after together]
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
incompetence
Incompetency Cardiology See Chronotropic incompetence Forensic medicine The inability of a physician or health care provider to perform his/her duties; a physician may be referred to as incompetent; the euphemistic/'politically correct' adjective 'impaired' is increasingly preferred. See Impairment, Incapacity Gynecology See Cervical incompetence Medtalk The inability to perform a task or function, defined in terms of organ dysfunction; this use of incompetence is waning in popularity, and being replaced by insufficiency, as in cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, or other insufficiency or failure Exceptions Incompetence or competence of valves–eg, cardiac or ileocecal or of the cervical os. See Cervical incompetence, Chronotropic incompetence Psychiatry The lack of capacity to legally consent or to contract–ie, the inability to appropriately exercise free will, as in Alzheimer's disease; incompetence in a legal framework requires a formal declaration that a person is incompetent to make his/her own decisions, and appointment of a surrogate decision-maker to be the person's 'advocate. '. See Competency to stand criminal trial, Incompetent, Informed consent, Testamentary capacity. McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
in·com·pe·tence
, incompetency (in-kom'pĕ-tĕns, -tĕn-sē) 1. The quality of being incompetent or incapable of performing the allotted function, especially failure of cardiac or venous valves to close completely.
Synonym(s):
insufficiency (2) .
2. forensic psychiatry The inability to distinguish right from wrong or to manage one's affairs.
3. Inability of the cervix to remain closed and thereby continue pregnancy to term.
[L. in-, neg. + com-peto, strive after together]
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012
in·com·pe·tence
, incompetency (in-kom'pĕ-tĕns, -tĕn-sē) The quality of being incapable of performing the allotted function, especially failure of cardiac or venous valves to close completely.
[L. in-, neg. + com-peto, strive after together]
Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012