Self-management interventions for issues identified in a geriatric assessment: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Sciences
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Electronic geriatric assessment (GA) enables patient self-management recommendations without direct healthcare provider involvement.
• Research is needed to identify effective self-management interventions for issues identified in GA.
• The impact of these interventions on patient-centered outcomes like quality of life, mood, cognition, and functional status needs evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify self-management interventions for older adults based on geriatric assessment findings.
• To determine the effect of these interventions on patient-centered outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature searches were conducted in major health sciences databases (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library) on July 13, 2021.
• Included studies used keywords related to self-management, geriatric assessment domains, and older adults.
• Data from 34 randomized controlled trials were synthesized using narrative methods after review by two independent researchers.

Main Results:

• Mood, mobility/falls, quality of life, and functional status were the most frequently studied geriatric domains.
• Positive effects were observed for mobility/falls (9/12 studies), pain (3/5), comorbidity management (4/4), and medication management (4/4).
• Most included studies were of low to moderate quality, with all geriatric domains addressed by at least one study.

Conclusions:

• Effective self-efficacy-targeted interventions exist for older adults to improve geriatric domains and related outcomes.
• The quality of evidence is predominantly low to moderate.
• Long-term effects, validation, and scalability of these self-management interventions remain largely undetermined.