Data associated with the publication 'Older Adults' Perceptions of the Causes and Consequences of Healthcare Overuse: A Qualitative Study'

Data supporting the qualitative study aimed at learning how older adults perceive overuse of healthcare, if at all. We conducted five focus groups involving nearly forty participants at senior activity centers across Baltimore City. After each group session, the investigators reviewed the major themes emerging from the discussion and the questions were iteratively refined as needed. The audiotaped transcripts were professionally transcribed verbatim. We used a combination of conventional and directed approaches for qualitative content analysis. We found that nearly all expressed that they or an acquaintance had experienced some overtesting or overtreatment, expressing agreement that terms such as “unnecessary,” “wasteful” and “overdoing it” characterized these encounters. Major themes that were expressed as contributing to overuse were: (1) poor quality of communication between patients and doctors; (2) treating individual complaints instead of “the whole person”; (3) few efforts to engage patients in shared decision-making; (4) inadequate communication between different health care providers involved in a patient’s care; and (5) little trust in the clinician. Yet, many participants also expressed concern that they had received too little care. Although overuse of healthcare seemed not to be a primary concern of older people, we learned what they perceived to be drivers or determinants of overuse of healthcare. The transcripts have been altered to remove all identifying information.