Experiencia piloto en el uso de una ficha de evaluación geriátrica ambulatoria / Pilot experience with an ambulatory geriatric assessment questionnaire

ABSTRACT

Ten percent of the chilean population is over 60 years old and general practitioners need an instrument to assess the degree of disability and multiple ailments of elders. Aim: to develop and use an instrument to assess elders consulting in primary care outpatient clinics. An instrument to be used by general practitioners, aimed to assess bio-psico-social risk of elders was devised by the Geriatrics Program at the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of Chile. The instrument was used in 100 elders (82 female) aged 71ñ8 years old consulting in a primary care outpatient clinic. The instrument took less than 5 minutes to be used. The most frequent risk factors found were living alone in 62 percent of subjects, falls in the last year in 47 percent, memory disturbances in 62 percent, overweight in 76 percent, visual impairment in 76 percent, urinary incontinence in 26 percent and depression in 76 percent. Thirty percent had difficulties to climb stairs and 4 percent had no support in case of severe disability. The applied instrument is fast to apply, easily understood by patients and detects problems associated with old age, that will help to plan primary care health programs