Assessing attitude towards prioritizing in healthcare in Iceland

Abstract

The objective of the study was to access the attitude of various groups in Iceland towards some prioritizing principles and their application in healthcare. The study was a cross-sectional mailing survey including a cover letter and a prepaid envelope. It was conducted in Iceland in March through May 1995. There were two types of questionnaires, one from a hypothetical patient's perspective and the other from hypothetical planners’ perspective. Both included the same demographic variables. A randomized sample of seven groups were invited to participate, i.e. physicians, politicians, and two groups from the general public, administrators and board members of health care institutions, registered nurses and licensed nurse practitioners. Only findings from the first four groups were analyzed and reported here. The response rate ranged from 46 to 75%. On average, there was strong reservation against prioritizing between different patients groups. However, physicians appear, first, to be more prepared to prioritize than other groups, and second, they had a stronger preference to opt for effective outcome rather than disease severity. Most respondents were reluctant to allocate limited resources to patients who are most seriously ill and would receive little benefit from treatment.