Public preferences for allocating absolute scarce critical healthcare resources during the COVID-19 pandemic
Journal of Health Organization and Management
ISSN: 1477-7266
Article publication date: 25 May 2021
Issue publication date: 13 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the Portuguese general public views regarding the criteria that should guide critical COVID-19 patients to receive medical devices (ventilators and IUC beds) during the current pandemic context. Based on rationing principles and protocols proposed in ethical and medical literature the authors explore how Portuguese general public evaluates the fairness of five allocation principles: “prognosis”, “severity of health condition”, “patients age”, “instrumental value” (frontline healthcare professionals should be prioritized during the pandemic) and “lottery”.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 586 Portuguese citizens. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used to define a hierarchy of prioritization criteria and to test for the association between respondents support to them and their socio-demographic and health characteristics.
Findings
Respondents gave top priority to prognosis when faced with absolute scarcity, followed closely by the severity of health condition, patient’s age with instrumental value receiving lowest support, on average. However, when the age of the patients was confronted with survival, younger-first principle prevailed over recovery. In a pandemic context, lottery was considered the least fair allocation method. The findings suggest that respondents’ opinions are aligned with those of ethicists but are partially in disagreement with the protocol suggested for Portugal.
Originality/value
This study represents the first attempt to elicit public attitudes towards distributive criteria during a pandemic and, therefore, in a real context where the perception is that life and death decisions have to be made.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author grateful to all those who voluntarily completed the survey and thus contributed to the realization of this work.
Disclosure Statements: The author declare no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. The author disclosed receipt of any financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Pinho, M. (2021), "Public preferences for allocating absolute scarce critical healthcare resources during the COVID-19 pandemic", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 964-986. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-12-2020-0494
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited