Efficacy of an Active Geriatric Evaluation for Geriatric Syndromes to Prevent Functional Decline in Family Medicine

The ageing of the population is associated to a rapid increase of chronic conditions and more specifically geriatric syndromes for which the health care system is largely unprepared. Being in frontline of this huge arising burden, family practitioners (FP) will need adapted tools to identify and manage elderly patients with complex needs and prevent functional decline while improving quality of life. It is however well recognized that effective and efficient evidence-based interventions adapted to the primary care setting are lacking. The AGE program (Active Geriatric Evaluation) was launched in 2011 and aimed at developing a comprehensive assessment and management tool for FP's to better identify and manage geriatric syndromes. The AGE tool consists of a 20-minute clinical screening instrument (Brief Assessment Tool, BAT), which performances for identifying geriatric syndromes was already assessed in general practice along the AGE program, and a comprehensive approach that encompasses: complementary diagnostic evaluations and propositions of management & treatment for each syndrome. The efficacy and efficiency of the AGE tool for preventing functional decline was never assessed in real life settings of general practice.

The aim of the study is to determine whether a comprehensive tool combining a brief assessment tool (BAT) for the early diagnosis of geriatric syndromes with a structured diagnostic and management strategy impacts on the functional decline and quality of life of elderly patients.

Design: Two-arm open label cluster randomized trial in FP practices, randomization unit: FP

Participants and setting: FP's and their patients aged ≥ 75 years in the French part of Switzerland. In total: 40 FP's (2x20) and 400 patients (2 x 200)

Intervention: Active Geriatric Evaluation. Controls: Usual care provided by FP's. Duration of study: 3 years (2 years of follow-up). Expected outcomes:functional ability of patients in the intervention arm ,measured through the activities of daily living, will be conserved compared to patients in the usual care arm.

Inclusion criteria

• Aged 75 years or more
• Consider the enrolling physician as his/her reference FP
• Able to understand French
• Living at home (not in institutions)
• Visited his/her FP at least twice during the past year
• Giving signed informed consent (or, in the absence of discerning capacity, giving assent in the presence of a surrogate signing the consent form)

Exclusion criteria

• Having had a geriatric or specialized memory consultation in the past 3 months (including assessment during rehabilitation)
• Planning to leave the study area or to change of FP in the next 2 years