Abstract
We surveyed medical directors of primary care clinics in California to learn how those clinics cared for their frail older patients. Of 143 questionnaires sent, 127 (89%) were returned. A median of 30% of all patient encounters were with persons aged 65 or older, and a median of 20% of older patients were considered frail. A total of 20% of the clinics routinely provided house calls to homebound elderly patients. Of clinics involved in training medical students or physicians (teaching clinics), 70% had at least one physician with an interest in geriatrics, compared with 42% of nonteaching clinics (P < .005). For frail patients, 40% of the clinics routinely performed functional assessment, while 20% routinely did an interdisciplinary evaluation. Continuing education in geriatrics emerged as a significant independent correlate of both functional assessment and interdisciplinary evaluation. Among the 94 clinics with a standard appointment length for the history and physical examination, only 11 (12%) allotted more than 60 minutes for frail patients. The data suggest that certain geriatric approaches are being incorporated into clinic-based primary care in California but do not provide insight into their content or clinical effects.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 385-391 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Western Journal of Medicine |
Volume | 156 |
Issue number | 4 |
State | Published - 1992 |
Keywords
- CLINIC- BASED GERIATRICS
- ELDERLY PATIENT CARE
- FRAIL OLDER PATIENTS
- GERIATRIC MEDICINE
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)