Instruments for the Functional Assessment of Older Patients

Abstract

COMPREHENSIVE functional assessment of elderly patients in clinical settings is becoming essential for optimal clinical management.¹ Frail elderly patients present with multiple interrelated problems, some of which often go undetected.² Comprehensive assessment cuts across disease categories, addressing physical, cognitive, emotional, and social function.³ Many of these problems can be detected by thorough history-taking and physical examination. Others, however, may fall outside the traditional clinical evaluation and therefore receive little attention from physicians.^{4 , 5} Recent studies have underscored the importance of focusing on functional status in assessing patients and predicting outcomes,^{6 , 7} and structured assessments can easily complement the standard clinical evaluation.^{4 , 8 , 9} The . . .