Age bias, referral for psychological assistance and the private physician

The responses of 60 physicians to a questionnaire comprised of a brief section for demographic information and eight vignettes describing patients with obvious psychiatric symptoms were analyzed. On alternate forms of the questionnaire, the age of the patient was reversed for each vignette. Old patients were referred for psychological assistance significantly less frequently (p less than .001) than were young patients, although both groups were described as presenting identical symptomatology. For those vignettes that described more severe behavioral disturbances, differences in the referral rates of young and not old patients was most pronounced. The results are discussed in terms of age bias on the part of the referring physician and the effect this may have on the provision of mental health treatment for elderly persons.