title: Age and disability biases in pediatric resuscitation among future physicians.
abstract: This study examined whether biases concerning age and/or disability status influenced resuscitation decisions. Medical students were randomly chosen to read 1 of 4 vignettes, organized in a 2 (age: infant vs school-age) × 2 (disability: preexisting vs no preexisting) between-subjects design. The vignettes described a pediatric patient experiencing an acute episode who required resuscitation. Following resuscitation, patients with existing disability would continue to have disability, whereas those without would develop disability. Participants indicated whether they would resuscitate, given a 10% chance of success. There was a significant main effect of disability: Medical students displayed a preference for resuscitating previously disabled children compared with previously healthy children when prognosis was held constant, F(1, 121) = 4.89, p = .03. This differential treatment of the two groups cannot easily be morally justified and poses a quandary for educators.
authors.affiliation: Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. rocksheng.zhong@yale.edu
authors.forename: Rocksheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knobe
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Feigenson
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mercurio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making / Q000941:ethics / Q000502:physiology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000941:ethics*; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D011379:Prognosis; D016414:Resuscitation Orders / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult