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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Age and performance
— [review of evidence on performance and age of medical practitioners] | | Author(s) | Duncan Empey, Sheila Peskett |
| Journal title | British Medical Journal, vol 337, no 7679, 15 November 2008 |
| Pages | pp 140-141 (BMJ Careers) |
| Source | www.bmj.com |
| Keywords | Medical workers ; Employment of older people ; Performance ; Management [care] ; Quality ; Social surveys ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | Does ageing affect the performance of doctors? If so, can experience compensate? These are the questions that this short article seeks to address. Age discrimination legislation has meant later retirement for many, with some exemptions. Several studies of performance in physicians and surgeons have suggested that increasing age is related to inferior patient outcomes, especially when combined with decreased patient volume. In a recent systematic review of 62 published studies that measured physicians' knowledge or quality of care and described time since graduation from medical school or age, more than half suggested that physicians' performance declined over time for all the outcomes measured. Only one study showed improved performance with age for all outcomes. The General Medical Council (GMC) has no age limit for registration and has recently decided to withdraw the age exemption for payment of the annual retention fee for doctors who are 65 or over. This is currently under judicial review. No specific limits on practice age can be determined from the literature but there are now assessment tests of performance, in particular cognitive ability, that can be carried out as part of a structured review of competence. However, until such assessments are validated and widely accepted, some organisations may determine age (it is suggested 70 years) beyond which they would not allow continued clinical practice. Other circumstances could be identified where precautions might be taken in the later years of a doctor's career to ensure continuing competence and adequate caseload for patient safety. However, solutions should be sought that entail both research and education to ensure that the skills of experienced doctors can be used towards the end of their careers. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081117201 A |
| Classmark | QT: GC: 5H: QA: 59: 3F: 64A * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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