Age as a Deciding Factor in the Consideration of Futility for a Medical Intervention

In the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, Dr. Cruz-Oliver and colleagues conclude through a survey that internal medicine physicians do not use age as a factor in deciding the futility of a medical intervention. "In patient scenarios with comparable clinical severity of illness, medical interventions were similarly rated as futile in elder and nonelder persons. Less-experienced physicians (residents) were more likely to rate elder cases as futile compared with experienced physicians (attending/fellows)."