Annals of internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Older age, aggressiveness of care, and survival for seriously ill, hospitalized adults. SUPPORT Investigators. Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatments.
Older age is associated with less aggressive treatment and higher short-term mortality due to serious illness. It is not known whether less aggressive care contributes to this survival disadvantage in elderly persons. ⋯ We found a modest independent association between patient age and short-term survival of serious illness. This age effect was not explained by the current practice of providing less aggressive care to elderly patients.