Is comprehensive geriatric assessment recognized and applied in Southwest China? A survey from Sichuan Association of Geriatrics

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate how health care providers in Southwest China conducted comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in their clinical practices.

Methods: One hundred twenty-two medical care providers who attended the 2012 Sichuan Association of Geriatrics (SAG) Continuing Medical Education participated in this cross-sectional survey. The instrument was divided into 2 parts, including respondents' demographics and information on their application of CGA.

Results: Of the total 122 participants, 120 (73 physicians and 47 nurses) responded. Three-quarters of the respondents reported that they evaluated at least 1 item of CGA separately. Among them, 30/32 respondents from university-affiliated hospitals reported having performed CGA compared with 18/22 from community hospitals or retirement/nursing facilities and 42/66 from provincial or county hospitals (P < .001), respectively. Respondents who attended the SAG Continuing Medical Education were more likely to complete the CGA (86.5% vs 66.2%, P = .011) and the integrated CGA (48.9% vs 20.0%, P < .001). Physicians were more likely to assess the instrument daily living capacity and communication capacity. Nurses were more focused on the basic activities of daily living, economic support, and caregiver.

Conclusions: These findings showed that the application of CAG in the mainland of China is not adequate. The training program related to CGA held by the SAG was helpful in improving the proportion of effective use of CGA. More efforts should be made in the future to build the CGA work team.

Keywords: Sichuan Association of Geriatrics Continuing Medical Education; Southwest China; comprehensive geriatric assessment.