Screening Seniors for Risk of Functional Decline: Results of a Survey in Family Practice

The Yield, Reliability, and Validity of a Postal Survey for Screening Community‐Dwelling Older People

“…The GPSS is unique in that it specifically screens for potentially treatable geriatric conditions so that these conditions can be assessed and treated before they have a major effect on health or function. In contrast, most other published postal surveys are used to identify older patients at increased risk for hospital admission 14,18 or for functional decline, 17,32 regardless of reason. These other surveys focus more on screening for chronic medical conditions (e.g., heart disease, diabetes mellitus), functional and sensory deficits, and recent hospitalizations and probably tend to identify a generally sicker and more impaired subgroup of patients than those identified by the GPSS.…”

Improvement in activities of daily living in elderly following treatment for post‐bereavement depression

“…Recent data suggest that psychopharmacologic intervention can be helpful in relieving mood symptoms in post‐bereavement depression. However, there has been limited systematic study of the ADL ability of bereaved depressed persons (6). Thus, the purpose of this pilot study was to test the baseline ADL functioning of bereaved persons who develop major depression after the loss of a spouse and to evaluate the effect of antidepressant pharmacologic intervention on ADL functioning in these same persons over time.…”

Development of a Comprehensive Approach for the Early Diagnosis of Geriatric Syndromes in General Practice

“…Surprisingly, no studies were found that assessed screening tools for functional decline in general practice. One study performed in general practice compared self-reporting of risk to standardized tools and concluded that reliability was high ( 69 ).…”