Pharmaceutical Benefit-Risk Perception and Older Age: A Pilot Study

Background: Older age plays an important role in pharmaceutical benefit-risk perception. This creates challenges and opportunities, especially for regulatory authorities and advocacy groups seeking to communicate with patients of all ages. This study explored the pharmaceutical benefit-risk perceptions of older versus younger adults to identify age-related effects for further study. Methods: 80 face-to-face surveys were conducted with samples of older and younger respondents from Boulder, Colorado (USA), and Dublin (Ireland). Results: Older adults were more likely than their younger counterparts to view greater risk today than 20 years ago for 14 out of 16 items ranging from diabetes and Alzheimer disease, to patients taking prescription medicines. Both older and younger respondents perceived most medical treatments as high in benefit and low in risk. Older adults construed “risk” variably as (1) side effects, (2) dangers of inappropriate use, and (3) wider issues. Crucially, older adults’ quantitative benefit-risk judgments were strongly influenced by personal experiences and the positive/negative feelings they most associated with different medicines, medical procedures and tests. While positive associations influenced high benefit perceptions, negative associations influenced high risk perceptions. Conclusion: Age-related effects on risk perception should be further explored to help improve the effectiveness of benefit-risk communication for adults of all ages.