Table 3 Principles for research on age-related inequalities in healthcare receipt
From: Identifying inequitable healthcare in older people: systematic review of current research practice
• Use consistent terminology and provide definitions for key terms |
• Use a theoretical framework to guide analyses that clearly articulates hypothesised relationships between age, mediating mechanisms, moderating factors and receipt of healthcare |
• Adjust for need using measures that are validated across age and incorporate severity where appropriate |
• Account for co-morbidities that might preclude treatment (contra-indications) or reduce the likelihood of receiving interventions and that may affect assessment of the benefit-to-harm ratio |
• Carefully consider patient preferences and adjust for these wherever feasible |
• Consider differential clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness by age, including both the capacity to benefit and the risk of harm |
• Explicitly acknowledge the inherent moral dimensions of resource allocation across ages |
• Clearly articulate study limitations and exercise caution in concluding equitable or inequitable patterns of care |