Comprehensive Geriatric Assesment
Geriatric conditions such as functional impairment and dementia are common and frequently unrecognized or inadequately addressed in older adults. Identifying geriatric conditions by performing a geriatric assessment can help clinicians manage these conditions and prevent or delay their complications.
Although the geriatric assessment is a diagnostic process, the term is often used to include both evaluation and management. Geriatric assessment is sometimes used to refer to evaluation by the individual clinician (usually a primary care clinician or a geriatrician) and at other times is used to refer to a more intensive multidisciplinary program, also known as a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA).
This topic will review the indications for CGA, as well as its major components and evidence of its efficacy. General issues of geriatric health maintenance and the assessment of specific geriatric populations are discussed elsewhere. (See "Geriatric health maintenance" and "Comprehensive geriatric assessment for patients with cancer" and "Failure to thrive in elderly adults: Evaluation".)
BACKGROUND — Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is defined as a multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment process that identifies medical, psychosocial, and functional limitations of a frail older person in order to develop a coordinated plan to maximize overall health with aging [1,2]. The health care of an older adult extends beyond the traditional medical management of illness. It requires evaluation of multiple issues including physical, cognitive, affective, social, financial, environmental, and spiritual components that influence an older adult 's health. CGA is based on the premise that a systematic evaluation of frail, older persons by a team of health professionals may identify a variety of treatable health problems and lead to better health outcomes.
CGA programs are usually initiated through a referral by the primary care clinician or by a clinician caring for
Although the geriatric assessment is a diagnostic process, the term is often used to include both evaluation and management. Geriatric assessment is sometimes used to refer to evaluation by the individual clinician (usually a primary care clinician or a geriatrician) and at other times is used to refer to a more intensive multidisciplinary program, also known as a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA).
This topic will review the indications for CGA, as well as its major components and evidence of its efficacy. General issues of geriatric health maintenance and the assessment of specific geriatric populations are discussed elsewhere. (See "Geriatric health maintenance" and "Comprehensive geriatric assessment for patients with cancer" and "Failure to thrive in elderly adults: Evaluation".)
BACKGROUND — Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is defined as a multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment process that identifies medical, psychosocial, and functional limitations of a frail older person in order to develop a coordinated plan to maximize overall health with aging [1,2]. The health care of an older adult extends beyond the traditional medical management of illness. It requires evaluation of multiple issues including physical, cognitive, affective, social, financial, environmental, and spiritual components that influence an older adult 's health. CGA is based on the premise that a systematic evaluation of frail, older persons by a team of health professionals may identify a variety of treatable health problems and lead to better health outcomes.
CGA programs are usually initiated through a referral by the primary care clinician or by a clinician caring for
References: 4. http://www.geronet.ucla.edu/images/stories/docs/professionals/Geri_Pre-visit_Questionnaire.pdf (Accessed on November 14, 2011).