Laypersons’ priority-setting preferences for allocating a COVID-19 patient to a ventilator: Does a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease matter?

Purpose: The current study aimed 1) to assess laypersons’ priority-setting preferences for allocating ventilators to COVID-19 patients with and without AD while differentiating between a young and an old person with the disease, and 2) to examine the factors associated with these preferences. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among a sample of 309 Israeli Jewish persons aged 40 and above. Results: Overall, almost three quarters (71%) of the participants chose the 80-year-old patient with a diagnosis of AD to be the last to be provided with a ventilator. The preferences of the remaining quarter were divided between the 80-year-old person who was cognitively intact and the 55-year-old person with AD. Education and subjective knowledge about AD were significantly associated with participants’ preferences. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cognitive status might not be a strong discriminating factor for laypersons’ preferences for allocating ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic.