Subjective Expectations on Living with Innovative Digital Implantable Medical Devices at Older Ages

Subjective health expectations for older ages may shape current lifestyle, health-related decisions and future health plans. In this research, we aimed to investigate what kind of implantable medical devices (IMDs) the general population expect to have with advancing age. The focus of our analyses was on digital medical devices, namely pacemakers and continuous glucose monitors (CGM), and as a reference, tooth implants were also investigated. An online survey was conducted in a sample (N=1400) aged 40 and over, representative for the general population of Hungary. Participants were asked to indicate what IMDs they expect to have in the future at ages 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 years. Subjective life expectancy was also reported. Actual prevalence of these three types of IMDs in the sample were considered for the analyses. Results revealed that a slightly higher share of participants expected to have pacemaker (3.3-6.1%) than CGM (1.9-4.6%) at older ages, while having tooth implant was more commonly projected (9.2-32.5%). Although the literature indicates a raise of pacemaker, CGM and tooth implant prevalence with age and time, the subjectively expected share of pacemaker and CGM was rather stable up to age 80, while it was decreasing for tooth implants. A decline was found for all the three IMDs from age 80 to 90, but it should be considered that 68.9% of the sample forecasted a longevity shorter than 90 years. This first study on subjective expectations on having IMDs at older ages highlights the need for targeted health education to put the public’s thoughts on future health problems and use of innovative medical solutions into a more realistic perspective.