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 ) .
Screening older cancer patients: first evaluation of the G-8 geriatric screening tool.
BACKGROUND Development of a geriatric screening tool is necessary to identify elderly cancer patients who would benefit from comprehensive geriatric assessment ( CGA ) .  We develop and evaluate the G-8 screening tool against various reference tests . PATIENTS AND METHODS Analyses were based on 364 cancer patients aged>70 years scheduled to receive first-line chemotherapy included in a multicenter prospect i ve study . The G-8 consists of seven items from the Mini Nutritional Assessment ( MNA ) question naire and age . Our primary reference test is based on a set of seven CGA scales : Activities Daily Living ( ADL ) , Instrumental ADL , MNA , Mini-Mental State Exam , Geriatric Depression Scale , Cumulative Illness Rating Scale-Geriatrics , and Timed Get Up and Go . We considered the presence of at least one question naire with an impaired score as an abnormal reference exam . Additional reference exams are also discussed . RESULTS The prevalence of being at risk varied from 60 % to 94 % according to the various definitions of the reference test . When considering the primary reference test , a cut-off value of 14 for the G-8 tool provided a good sensitivity estimate ( 85 % ) without deteriorating the specificity excessively ( 65 % ) . CONCLUSION The G-8 shows good screening properties for identifying elderly cancer patients who could benefit from CGA
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 ) .