Assessment of elderly patients at home: a report of fifty cases

Fifty elderly patients were assessed at home by physicians trained in geriatric medicine. The patients had been referred by physicians, relatives, or community services. Reasons for referral usually were nonspecific and involved either a request for overall assessment or recommendations about placement. Assessment included medical, psychiatric, social and functional components. Mental impairment and impairment in the activities of daily living were common. New medical or psychiatric diagnoses were contributed in 36 instances. The most frequent previously unnoticed pathologic disorders were mental impairment and depression. Assessment resulted in specialists' advice concerning such matters as the medication program, placement, increased support, further diagnostic work and, in two instances, prompt admission to a hospital.