Health outcome prioritization to elicit preferences of older persons with multiple health conditions.

Objective: To develop and test a simple tool to elicit the preferences of older persons based on prioritization of universal health outcomes.

Methods: Persons age ≥ 65 participating in a larger study were asked to rank 4 outcomes on a visual analogue scale: (1) maintaining independence, (2) staying alive, (3) reducing/eliminating pain, (4) reducing/eliminating other symptoms.

Results: Interviewers rated 73% of the 81 participants as having good to excellent understanding, and cognitive interviews demonstrated the tool captured how participants thought about trade-offs.