Authors: Elisabet Werntoft Ingalill Rahm Hallberg Solve Elmståhl AnnaKarin Edberg
Publish Date: 2013/07/25
Volume: 17, Issue: 5, Pages: 402-411
Abstract
Background and aims The aim of this study was to investigate and compare older people’s views of prioritization in health care with specific regard to age gender and HRQoL Methods The sample was collected from a prospective longitudinal cohort study the GAS project Good Ageing in Skane that is in progress in Sweden For this study 902 persons 424 men and 478 women aged between 60 and 93 years were invited consecutively over a period of 17 months to participate in an additional structured interview based on an interview manual Sociodemographic and HRQoL data were collected from the GAS project For the analysis the sample was divided into age groups youngold oldold and oldestold Results Older people in general did not want age as a criterion for prioritization in health care When pain was added as a criterion age became even less important than when it was the sole criterion The oldestold to a higher degree than the other age groups prioritized younger patients as did men while women more than men preferred “old age” as an indicator for prioritization The respondents’ views on prioritization were also more associated with age and gender than HRQoL Conclusions Older people’s views of priorities seem to differ from previous populationbased studies in that age per se as a criterion for selection between patients was not favored health and wellbeing were more important Differences were however found within the group of older people as regards both age and gender
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