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 ) .
Physicians' judgement and comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) select different patients as fit for chemotherapy.
INTRODUCTION Elderly cancer patients are a very heterogeneous population . A comprehensive geriatric assessment ( CGA ) shall help to identify more precisely those patients who are fit , compared to those who are vulnerable or frail , when deciding on chemotherapeutical treatment . METHODS In a prospect i ve trial , 200 cancer patients treated in an out-patient setting were judged by their physician for their fitness for chemotherapy as fit , vulnerable or frail . A CGA was performed thereafter . We determined the feasibility of a CGA in an out-patient setting and the frequency of changes within the different assessment tools and compared physicians ' judgement with the CGA results . RESULTS Physicians judged 64.3 % of their patients as fit , 32.4 % as vulnerable , and 3.2 % as frail . A CGA was completed by 97.5 % of patients and lasted 20min per patients ( range : 9 - 47min ) . 26.5 % of all patients had no deficits in the CGA . The CGA identified a mean of 1.7 problems per patient , 1.3 in patients judged as fit , 2.3 in those judged as vulnerable , and 4.2 in those judged as frail . A  CGA  is more sensitive in classifying patients as fit compared to vulnerable or frail than physicians ' judgement . CONCLUSION A CGA is feasible and detects more elderly cancer patients as being unfit for chemotherapy than physicians ' judgement . Further trials including disease and treatment related end-points are needed
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 ) .