Objective: To determine the yield of standardized targeting criteria for identifying hospitalized HMO patients who are at high risk for mortality and nursing home placement and, therefore, may be appropriate for comprehensive geriatric assessment.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Four HMO (Southern California Kaiser-Permanente) hospitals.
Subjects: 3,697 patients 65 years of age or older admitted to any inpatient service from July 1 through September 30, 1990.
Main outcome measures: Screening measures for standardized targeting criteria, administered 24-48 hours after admission.
Results: Overall, 35.1% of patients screened met at least one inclusionary criterion, which is considerably higher than other published reports. The most commonly met criteria were incontinence, impairment in performing activities of daily living, malnutrition, and immobility. The percentage of patients meeting at least one criterion and meeting each criterion varied considerably among hospitals. The vast majority of patients (83%) who were judged appropriate for assessment met at least three criteria.
Conclusions: The yield of standardized criteria differs when applied to patients in different health care systems and to patients at different hospitals within a health care system, which may reflect differences in the populations being served and the practice styles of physicians and the delivery system. Because no single criterion identified more than approximately half of patients who were judged appropriate for assessment, it is likely that a battery of criteria will be necessary to identify these patients.