[Geriatric assessment: possibilities and limits].
A recent meta-analysis has shown that comprehensive geriatric assessment can reduce mortality, increase survival at home, and improve functional status in elderly patients. Despite their high effectiveness, geriatric assessment programs have not yet been widely introduced into clinical practice. This review discusses the following four factors potentially explaining the limited spread of geriatric assessment programs. 1) There is a lack of accepted targeting criteria to select patients who need evaluation and management in costly in patient geriatric units. 2) There are effectiveness gaps in current knowledge on modifiable disability risk factors. 3) Geriatric assessment programs have been insufficiently integrated into the continuity of primary care. 4) More data are needed for evaluating the cost of geriatric assessment. Interdisciplinary research might help to optimize geriatric assessment programs and, at the same time, might ensure access of elderly patients to appropriate geriatric assessment programs despite current restraints in health care costs.
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Zentrum Geriatrie-Rehabilitation Zieglerspital, Bern, Schweiz.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis
Geriatrisches Assessment: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen.