Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for outpatients is important for the detection of functional disabilities and depressive symptoms associated with sensory impairment as well as for the screening of cognitive impairment

Abstract

Background: The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) for inpatients is very useful to improve the outcomes of elderly patients. However, most of the elderly patients are provided their care by general practitioners in primary care settings without comprehensive assessment. Concise and practical assessment is necessary for the detection of geriatric problems and sufficient care in the outpatient clinic.Methods: The CGA was introduced in the outpatient clinic for elderly people in Kyoto University Hospital and 309 patients participated in the study, where cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, activities of daily living, and self‐reported hearing and visual impairment were assessed.Results: In the patients studied, the most prevalent chief complaint was memory loss (19%). Among the patients complaining of memory loss, two‐thirds of the patients were diagnosed as cognitively impaired by the Mini‐Mental State Examination. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that hearing and visual impairment was significantly associated with functional disabilities and that hearing impairment was significantly associated with depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Thus, the CGA for outpatients is useful for the detection of functional disabilities and depressive symptoms by asking about their sensory impairment as well as for the detection of cognitive impairment in elderly patients. Therefore, concise and practical assessment should be introduced in the primary care settings to improve the quality of life of elderly people.