Comprehensive geriatric assessment

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. "Geriatric syndrome" is a term that is often used to refer to common health conditions in older adults that do not fit into distinct organ-based disease categories and often have multifactorial causes. The list includes conditions such as cognitive impairment, delirium, incontinence, malnutrition, falls, gait disorders, pressure ulcers, sleep disorders, sensory deficits, fatigue, and dizziness. These conditions are common in older adults, and they may have a major impact on quality of life and disability. Geriatric syndromes can best be identified by a geriatric assessment. 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.måsjekke