[Screening tools do not measure up against rigorous history taking]

Provision of appropriate care services for older adults is a challenge for contemporary medical practice, especially for cases where elderly patients present in an emergency department. Manifold questionnaires, inventories and screening tools have been developed to identify those who are at an increased risk of adverse outcomes. The complex problems with which older adults present are difficult to capture in these standardized instruments, whereas the prognostic accuracy is insufficient for personalized risk estimation. Instead of relying on questionnaires and inventories, it is strongly advised to follow the iterative and associate approach of history taking that starts with listening to what is there to say by patients and/or carers.