Exploring geriatricians' perspectives on aging biomarkers: A reflexive thematic analysis

OBJECTIVES: Aging biomarkers have been developed to identify people at higher risk of age-related decline. The objective of this study is to understand geriatricians' perspectives on aging biomarkers in order to facilitate their integration into geriatric medicine.

STUDY DESIGN: Using reflexive thematic analysis, this qualitative study explores the views of geriatricians on the potential role of aging biomarkers in clinical practice based on thirteen semi-structured interviews.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Geriatricians' views on the role, utility, and challenges of the use of aging biomarkers in geriatric medicine.

RESULTS: Two main themes were developed: the complexity of geriatric medicine and the importance of trust in biomarkers. Clinicians highlighted the heterogeneity of the older patient population, noting that current assessments, such as the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), rely on the geriatricians' clinical judgment. While most participants saw potential for aging biomarkers to supplement the CGA in assessment of patients' resilience in recovery from invasive treatment, they emphasized the need to prove value beyond current treatment decisions. Furthermore, participants stressed the need for actionable, reliable, and context-specific tools. Concerns included the risk of oversimplifying the assessment of resilience, lack of applicability to the frail clinical population, and the ethical implications for both health care and society more broadly in the implementation of aging biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes the importance of aligning biomarker development with the reality of geriatric medicine and clinicians' needs. Efforts from geriatricians, aging biomarker researchers, ethicists, and primary treating physicians are needed to successfully adopt aging biomarkers into geriatric medicine.