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About Needs for Medical
Devices
for Ageing Populations
As part of a project funded by the
World Health Organization (WHO), a report on the, “Systematic
Review of needs for Medical Devices for Ageing Population” was
prepared under primary authorship of the Australian Safety and
Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical
group of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
As per the report, across the World
Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region, as in most parts
of the world, the population is rapidly ageing. This is likely to
place additional burdens on the provision of health care services
to this demographic. Many medical devices are available that may
benefit elderly people, although these devices may be expensive or
may not be available in all countries. These factors impede
equitable access to medical devices.
The clinical focus of this report
has been defined as the five health conditions that cause the
greatest loss of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for older
people (defined as people aged 60–79 years) in the Western Pacific
Region. Five main health conditions, with 19 associated
sub-topics, were identified:
• Cardiovascular diseases;
• Malignant neoplasms;
• Respiratory diseases;
• Sense organ diseases;
• Neuropsychiatric conditions.
This report provides a
literature-based review of medical devices needed by older people.
The results have been used to create lists of devices categorized
in terms of whether they are preventive, diagnostic or
therapeutic. Broad clinical safety and effectiveness information
has also been provided when available, although the volume and
quality of this information vary widely between each device.
Detailed information on the safety, efficacy and
cost–effectiveness of each device was beyond the scope of this
report. Where possible, all identified medical devices were
categorized according to the definitions presented by the Global
Harmonization Task Force.
It is intended that this report ( as
available at the following web link ) will inform future research,
with the aim of determining the need for medical devices and thus
improving access of elderly people to needed devices. While the
report focuses on the Western Pacific Region, it is relevant for
most parts of the world.
https://www.who.int/medical_devices/systematic_Review_needs.pdf
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