The influence of age on health valuations: the older olds prefer functional independence while the younger olds prefer less morbidity

Contains fulltext : 154203.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: To assess the effectiveness of geriatric interventions, The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey - Composite Endpoint (TOPICS-CEP) has been developed based on health valuations of older persons and informal caregivers. This study explored the influence of the raters' age on the preference weights of TOPICS-CEP's components. METHODS: A vignette study was conducted with 200 raters (mean age +/- standard deviation: 72.5+/-11.8 years; 66.5% female). Profiles of older persons were used to obtain the preference weights for all TOPICS-CEP components: morbidity, functional limitations, emotional well-being, pain experience, cognitive functioning, social functioning, self-perceived health, and self-perceived quality of life. The raters assessed the general wellbeing of these vignettes on a 0-10 scale. Mixed linear regression analysis with interaction terms was used to explore the effects of raters' age on the preference weights. RESULTS: Interaction effects between age and the TOPICS-CEP components showed that older raters gave significantly (P