What do geriatricians think about Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment? A survey of Australian and New Zealand geriatricians

Objective: Despite Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) being central to the work of geriatricians, little is known about geriatricians' views on CGA. This study was designed to understand how geriatricians conceptualise and practise CGA, and whether differences exist between groups (more experienced geriatricians vs. less experienced geriatricians and registrars; those practising in rural vs. metropolitan environments; in private vs. public sectors).

Methods: An anonymous 90-item electronic questionnaire was emailed to members of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine.

Results: There were 243 respondents (response rate 19%). Respondents stated that core features of CGA were multidimensional assessment (89%), implementation of a management plan (84%), and involvement of a geriatrician (70%). Important features in predicting CGA success were ability to implement health management recommendations (55%), and ease of communication with general practitioners (46%), and with the multidisciplinary team (45%). Functional decline (88%) and frailty (88%) were thought to predict patients likely to benefit from CGA, compared to age (48%) or multimorbidity (19%). Junior consultants and registrars were less likely to prioritise the importance of clinical leadership (10% vs. 30%), and more likely to report the importance of a structured format (17% vs. 7%) to CGA effectiveness.

Conclusions: There was some agreement about the core features of CGA and who is likely to benefit, but little agreement on features that predict CGA success. Further research that explores these points of difference would be helpful.