Geriatric assessment in the office setting

Attention to functional limitations must be incorporated into the routine care of the elderly. Several brief, validated functional assessment instruments are now available for office use. Routine screening of the elderly population typically uncovers unknown concerns in one third to one half of patients, even if those patients are well known to their physician. Functional assessment instruments have been developed with specific site and populations in mind. Therefore, physicians should evaluate which instrument best matches the population to be tested. Functional measures should be viewed as an adjunct to improving care, not as a stand-alone diagnostic test.