Age as a Deciding Factor in the Consideration of Futility for a Medical Intervention in Patients Among Internal Medicine Physicians in Two Practice Locations

Objectives This study explores physicians' concepts of futility and use of age as a deciding factor in considering medical futility in clinical interventions. Design Survey. Setting Five academic hospitals in the United States. Participants Participants were 355 internal medicine physicians, including 162 residents, 98 fellows, and 95 attending physicians. Measurement Anonymous questionnaire in which respondents were asked to define futility and to rate patient scenarios as futile or not, unaware that these were pairs of patient scenarios with similar clinical severity and treatment, but different age. Results Forty-five percent (n = 159) of physicians used the most accepted definition of futility in the literature: “a therapy that will not benefit the patient in attaining a specific goal.” Physicians rated patient scenarios as futile for 58% of elder (≥65 years) and for 59% of nonelder (