Table 2.
Respondents’ views on health‐care priorities
| Questions | Total, n = 1461 (%) |
|---|---|
| Who do you think should be prioritized in health care?2 | |
| Younger patients | 11 (8) |
| Older patients | 11 (8) |
| All age groups | 120 (84) |
| What alternative do you think is most fair?3 | |
| Among people with life‐threatening illness, younger patients should have | |
| some priority over older people | 22 (15) |
| People should have the same priority with respect to life‐saving treatment, unless they are very old | 7 (5) |
| People should have the same priority with respect to life‐saving treatment, no matter what their age is | 117 (80) |
| Who should be the one to have a new kidney? | |
| A 60‐year‐old woman | 112 (92) |
| A 70‐year‐old woman | 6 (5) |
| An 80‐year‐old woman | 4 (3) |
| Who should be the one to have a new hip joint?4 | |
| A 60‐year‐old man with walking difficulties | 33 (24) |
| A 70‐year‐old man with bad pain | 90 (65) |
| An 80‐year‐old man using a wheelchair because of his bad hip | 16 (11) |
| Who should be the one to have cataract surgery to improve the eyesight? | |
| A 60‐year‐old with dementia | 17 (13) |
| A 70‐year‐old with coronary disease | 29 (23) |
| An 80‐year‐old healthy person | 83 (64) |
| Which of the following patients should be first ranked for treatment? | |
| A patient who smokes, refuses to stop and needs a coronary by‐pass operation | 25 (20) |
| A patient who is an alcoholic and needs a liver transplant | 7 (6) |
| A patient who is a football player, injured during training and needs a new knee to be able to continue his sport activity | 53 (43) |
| A patient who because of several abortions is infertile and needs an operation to be able to get pregnant | 37 (31) |
1Missing between 1 and 24.
2Significant differences found between respondents with high/low PCS (P = 0.040).
3Significant differences found between respondents being independent/dependent in PADL (P = 0.018).
4Significant differences found between respondents with high/low MCS (P = 0.030) and at ordinary home/special accomodation (P = 0.050).
No significant differences were found when comparing independency/dependency in IADL, or between age groups.
PCS, physical component summary; MCS, mental component summary; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; PADL, personal activities of daily living.