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 ) .
Multidimensional geriatric assessment in treatment decision in elderly cancer patients: 6-year experience in an outpatient geriatric oncology service.
This prospect i ve cohort study of consecutive elderly cancer patients was undertaken to evaluate the role of the multidimensional geriatric assessment ( MGA ) as an aid in treatment decision-making . A total of 571 cancer patients ( aged > or = 70 ) were enrolled during 6-year ( 1999 - 2005 ) . All underwent MGA as part of the first evaluation . In multivariate analysis , the probability of receiving active , instead of palliative , treatment was negatively associated with increasing age ( odds ratio=0.69 every 5 years , p=0.005 ) , living alone ( OR=0.54 , p=0.031 ) , dependence in activities of daily living ( ADL score > 0 , OR=0.41 , p=0.003 ) and a low body-mass index ( BMI ) ( OR=0.51 , p=0.061 ) ; while a positive association emerged for instrumental activities of daily living ( IADL ) score ( OR=1.12 per point , p=0.019 ) . Our data suggest that MGA , in addition to age , is a useful tool in clinical practice for deciding cancer treatment in elderly patients , with a major independent role played by living alone , ADL , IADL and BMI
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 ) .