Impact of geriatric home screening services on mental state: a systematic review

The purpose of this report was to determine the impact of geriatric home screening services on mental state. Two computer databases, MEDLINE and HealthSTAR, were searched for relevant articles published from January 1975 to June 1997, and the bibliographies of retrieved articles were searched for additional references. Seven trials were located that met the four inclusion criteria: (a) original study; (b) published in English or French; (c) controlled trial (randomized or nonrandomized) of a geriatric home screening service; and (d) the trial included at least one measure of mental state. All trials met most of the validity criteria for intervention studies of the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. Two trials reported a small effect on morale or self-perceived health and five trials reported no effect. Thus, there was little evidence that geriatric home screening services had an impact on the mental state of aged subjects.