The effects of framing on older and younger adults\u27 medical decision-making.

This 2 phase study was designed to explore age-related differences in medical treatment choices due to a framing effect (survival and mortality wording affecting the choice made) and due to the influence of physician recommendations. One hundred and thirty-seven older adults and 166 younger adults completed two medical treatment questionnaires, a demographic questionnaire, and a brief math quiz. In phase 1, the medical treatment questionnaire presented options for treatment of cancer (surgery and radiation) in mortality and survival wording. In phase 2, the treatment options were presented with and without a physician recommendation. Both older and younger adults made different treatment choices when information was framed in mortality versus survival wording and when a treatment was framed as physician recommended. Simple changes in the presentation of medical information that failed to alter the meaning of the information had an impact on the treatment choice made. A physician\u27s recommendation also affected treatment choices, but the framing effect (mortality vs. survival wording affecting the choice made) persisted despite a physician\u27s recommendation