Geriatric assessment  was most often completed to describe a patient 's health and functional status .
Geriatric assessment  in the oncology setting is feasible , and some domains are associated with adverse outcomes .
However , there is limited evidence that geriatric assessment impacted treatment decision making .
BACKGROUND Geriatric assessment is a multidisciplinary diagnostic process that evaluates the older adult 's medical , psychological , social , and functional capacity .
No systematic review of the use of geriatric assessment in oncology has been conducted .
The goals of this systematic review were : 1 ) to provide an overview of all geriatric assessment instruments used in the oncology setting ; 2 ) to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of those instruments ; and 3 ) to systematic ally evaluate the effectiveness of geriatric assessment in predicting or modifying outcomes ( including the impact on treatment decision making , toxicity of treatment , and mortality ) .
Identifying vulnerable older adults with cancer: integrating geriatric assessment into oncology practice.
OBJECTIVES To integrate the principles of geriatric assessment into the care of older patients with cancer in order to identify vulnerable older adults and develop interventions to optimize cancer treatment . DESIGN A brief , comprehensive , self-administered question naire and intervention algorithm were developed consisting of measures of  geriatric assessment  that are brief , reliable , vali date d , and predictive of mortality and morbidity in older patients . SETTING Academic tertiary care cancer center and community-based satellite practice . PARTICIPANTS Patients aged 65 and older with cancer . MEASUREMENTS The question naire solicits information about the patient 's functional status , comorbidity , psychological status , nutritional status , and social support . A scoring algorithm for referral to a multidisciplinary team was developed . RESULTS Two hundred forty-five of 250 patients completed the question naire ( mean age 76 , range 65 - 95 ) . The majority of patients were women ( 71 % ) , white ( 95 % ) , married ( 52 % ) , and retired ( 90 % ) , with a variety of tumor types and stages . Most patients ( 78 % ) completed the question naire on their own and reported acceptance of question naire length ( 91 % ) , no difficult questions ( 94 % ) , no up setting questions ( 96 % ) , and no missing questions ( 89 % ) . The mean time to completion was 15 minutes , with a median of 12.5 ( st and ard deviation 10 , range 2 - 60 ) . Information from this question naire helped identify physical and psychological impairments , poor nutrition , lack of social support , and untreated comorbidities . Appropriate referrals to a multidisciplinary team were made . CONCLUSION This brief , comprehensive , self-administered question naire is feasible for use in the outpatient oncology setting and helped identify the needs of geriatric oncology patients . Prospect i ve trials are needed to determine the effectiveness of the interventions offered
Geriatric assessment  was most often completed to describe a patient 's health and functional status .
Geriatric assessment  in the oncology setting is feasible , and some domains are associated with adverse outcomes .
However , there is limited evidence that geriatric assessment impacted treatment decision making .
BACKGROUND Geriatric assessment is a multidisciplinary diagnostic process that evaluates the older adult 's medical , psychological , social , and functional capacity .
No systematic review of the use of geriatric assessment in oncology has been conducted .
The goals of this systematic review were : 1 ) to provide an overview of all geriatric assessment instruments used in the oncology setting ; 2 ) to examine the feasibility and psychometric properties of those instruments ; and 3 ) to systematic ally evaluate the effectiveness of geriatric assessment in predicting or modifying outcomes ( including the impact on treatment decision making , toxicity of treatment , and mortality ) .