Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Minimum geriatric screening tools to detect common geriatric problems

  • Published:
The Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging

Abstract

Background: Health services for the elderly are becoming increasingly important in industrialized nations, and comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) is one of the procedures designed to improve the health of this sector of the population. In 2003 a survey among Belgian geriatricians showed that despite the interest of the geriatric teams for comprehensive geriatric assessment, it was not used enough. Considering these results, as a first step, screening tools were proposed for the main geriatric domains (Minimum Geriatric Screening Tools, MGST).Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a MGST within the teams of geriatric units and to evaluate the efficacy of a MGST on the detection rate of the geriatric problems of admitted subjects.Design: Prospective observational survey.Methods: The teams were first asked to encode active geriatric problems suspected according to their conventional assessment. Then, in a second phase, a complete MGST was completed by the same team within the first week after admission.Results: Three hundred and twenty six registrations from 33 centres were available. Mean (±SD) number of screened geriatric problems was 1.5±1.2 without MGST and 4.7±1.7 (p< 0.0001) using the MGST. Except for the assessment for the risk of falls, the MGST leads to a better screening for the seven other main geriatric domains (functional, continence, cognition, depression, nutrition, pain, social).Conclusions: An improvement associated with the use of simple minimal geriatric tools to screen geriatric problems was evident. This approach has additional value for education and quality assurance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Epstein AM, Hall JA, Fretwell M, et al. Consultative geriatric assessment for ambulatory patients. A randomized trial in a health maintenance organization. JAMA 1990;263(4): 538–44.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Stuck AE, Siu AL, Wieland GD, Adams J, Rubenstein LZ. Comprehensive geriatric assessment: a meta-analysis of controlled trials. Lancet 1993;342(8878): 1032–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Stuck AE, Walthert JM, Nikolaus T, Bula CJ, Hohmann C, Beck JC. Risk factors for functional status decline in community-living elderly people: a systematic literature review. Social Science & Medicine (1982) 1999;48(4): 445–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bernabei R, Gambassi G, Lapane K, et al. Management of pain in elderly patients with cancer. SAGE Study Group. Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Drug Use via Epidemiology. JAMA 1998;279(23): 1877–82.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Brook RH, McGlynn EA, Cleary PD. Quality of health care. Part 2: measuring quality of care. The New England Journal of Medicine 1996;335(13): 966–70.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Pepersack T, Turneer M, De Breucker S, Stubbe M, Beyer I. Tetanus immunization among geriatric hospitalized patients. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2005;24(7): 495–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lambert M. Belgian Minimum Geriatric Screening tools. Access on line: http:/wwwgeriatriebe/fr/bmdsasp 2004.

  8. Pepersack T, Geriatrics. obotCf. Consensus Conference. Academic Meeting of the Belgian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Access on line: http://wwwgeriatriebe/fr/collegeasp 2004.

  9. Katz S, Ford AB, Moskowitz RW, Jackson BA, Jaffe MW. Studies of Illness in the Aged, the Index of Adl: a Standardized Measure of Biological and Psychosocial Function. JAMA 1963;185: 914–9.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lawton MP, Brody EM. Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist 1969;9(3): 179–86.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Oliver D, Britton M, Seed P, Martin FC, Hopper AH. Development and evaluation of evidence based risk assessment tool (STRATIFY) to predict which elderly inpatients will fall: case-control and cohort studies. BMJ (Clinical research ed 1997;315(7115): 1049–53.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Richardson HE, Glass JN. A comparison of scoring protocols on the Clock Drawing Test in relation to ease of use, diagnostic group, and correlations with Mini-Mental State Examination. JAGS 2002;50(1): 169–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Shulman KL. Clock-drawing: is it the ideal cognitive screening test? International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2000;15(6): 548–61.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Goring H, Baldwin R, Marriott A, Pratt H, Roberts C. Validation of short screening tests for depression and cognitive impairment in older medically ill inpatients. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 2004;19(5): 465–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Alexopoulos GS, Abrams RC, Young RC, Shamoian CA. Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Biological psychiatry 1988;23(3): 271–84.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Vetel JM, Leroux R, Ducoudray JM. [AGGIR Practical use. Geriatric Autonomy Group Resources Needs]. Soins 1998(13):23–7.

  17. Stratton RJ, Hackston A, Longmore D, et al. Malnutrition in hospital outpatients and inpatients: prevalence, concurrent validity and ease of use of the ‘malnutrition universal screening tool’ (‘MUST’) for adults. The British Journal of Nutrition 2004;92(5): 799–808.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. The management of persistent pain in older persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2002;50(6 Suppl):S205–24.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Weiner DK Improving pain management for older adults: an urgent agenda for the educator, investigator, and practitioner. Pain 2002;97(1-2): 1–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Feldt KS, Ryden MB, Miles S. Treatment of pain in cognitively impaired compared with cognitively intact older patients with hip-fracture. JAGS 1998;46(9): 1079–85.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Greenfield S, Blanco DM, Elashoff RM, Ganz PA. Patterns of care related to age of breast cancer patients. JAMA 1987;257(20): 2766–70.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Pepersack T, Beyer I, Belgium atSGoDitFCo. Activities of daily living scales and the needs for care and help among elderly before and after geriatric hospitalization. Arch Public Health 1998;56: 291–303.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Beeckman ATF, Kriegsman DMW, Deeg DJH. The association of physical health and depressive symptoms in the older population: age and sex difference. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatry Epidemiol 1995;30: 32–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kennedy GJ, Kelman HR, Thomas C. The emergence of depressive symptoms in late life: the importance of declining health and increasing disability. Journal of Community Health 1990;15(2): 93–104.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Evans S, Katona C. Epidemiology of depressive symptoms in elderly primary care attenders. Dementia (Basel, Switzerland) 1993;4(6): 327–33.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Katona CL. Approaches to the management of depression in old age. Gerontology 1994;40 Suppl 1: 5–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Mayou R, Hawton K. Psychiatric disorder in the general hospital. Br J Psychiatry 1986;149: 172–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Pepersack T, De Breucker S, Mekongo YP, Rogiers A, Beyer I. Correlates of unrecognized depression among hospitalized geriatric patients. Journal of Psychiatric Practice 2006;12(3): 160–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Pepersack T. Outcomes of continuous process improvement of nutritional care program among geriatric units. The Journals of Gerontology 2005;60(6): 787–92.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Blyth FM, March LM, Brnabic AJ, Jorm LR, Williamson M, Cousins MJ. Chronic pain in Australia: a prevalence study. Pain 2001;89(2-3): 127–34.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Helme RD, Gibson SJ. The epidemiology of pain in elderly people. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 2001;17(3): 417–31, v.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Ferrell BA. Pain evaluation and management in the nursing home. Annals of Internal Medicine 1995;123(9): 681–7.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Mantyselka P, Kumpusalo E, Ahonen R, et al. Pain as a reason to visit the doctor: a study in Finnish primary health care. Pain 2001;89(2-3): 175–80.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Berwick DM. Developing and testing changes in delivery of care. Annals of Internal Medicine 1998;128(8): 651–6.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Higashi T, Shekelle PG, Adams JL, et al. Quality of care is associated with survival in vulnerable older patients. Annals of Internal Medicine 2005;143(4): 274–81.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Williams SV. Improving patient care can set your brain on fire. Annals of Internal Medicine 2005;143(4): 305–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Erasme, Université Libre de Bruxelles, route de Lennik 808, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    T. Pepersack

Authors
  1. T. Pepersack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

College of Geriatrics and the Belgian Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics

Corresponding author

Correspondence to T. Pepersack.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pepersack, T., College of Geriatrics and the Belgian Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics. Minimum geriatric screening tools to detect common geriatric problems. J Nutr Health Aging 12, 348–352 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02982666

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02982666

Key words

Search

Navigation