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Updated: Oct 25, 2025
06:52
Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
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[Geriatric patients in the intensive care unit]
S Schmid1, K Heissner1, S Schlosser1
1Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin 1, Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie, Endokrinologie, Rheumatologie und Infektiologie, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauß-Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Deutschland.
Der Gastroenterologe : Zeitschrift Fur Gastroenterologie Und Hepatologie
|August 4, 2021
Summary
Geriatric intensive care focuses on functional status and geriatric syndromes, not just age, for better patient outcomes. Screening for frailty and delirium is key, alongside managing multimorbidity and nutrition.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Medicine
- Intensive Care Medicine
- Clinical Gerontology
Context:
- Geriatric patients constitute up to 30% of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.
- Increasing prevalence necessitates specialized care approaches.
- Traditional focus on chronological age is insufficient for predicting outcomes.
Purpose:
- To highlight the importance of functional status and geriatric syndromes in ICU prognosis.
- To emphasize screening tools like the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).
- To guide the management of age-related physiological changes, multimorbidity, and polypharmacy in critically ill older adults.
Summary:
- Functional status, frailty (assessed by CFS), and delirium (assessed by CAM-ICU) are critical for geriatric ICU prognosis.
- Management should address physiological changes, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, and nutritional status (e.g., using NRS 2002).
- Frailty is particularly relevant in critically ill geriatric patients, including those with COVID-19.
Impact:
- Informs clinical decision-making regarding the benefits and justification of intensive care therapies for geriatric patients.
- Promotes a patient-centered approach considering individual goals and quality of life.
- Underscores the need for interdepartmental cooperation in geriatric intensive care.
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