Ambulatory Geriatric Screening (AGES) is a standardized interview and examination instrument, the purpose of which is to detect major health or psychosocial problems in the elderly ambulatory patient, and thus prevent secondary illnesses. It comprises a patient and doctor's assistant questionnaire and a doctor's examination sheet with brief instructions for use. In a study conducted between 1992 and 1995, AGES was employed in 67 randomly selected general practitioners' offices in the area around Leipzig and Hannover. An important result was that in an average of 10.2 health-related problems per patient, 4.8, that is almost a half, had been unknown to the care-providing physician. In the case of very old patients, however, the family doctor was usually better informed. The application of the AGES in the office is less time-consuming than might be feared. For the evaluation of the patient questionnaire and the scheduled small examinations, the doctor's assistant needs only 10 to 15 minutes. Thereafter, the family doctor can check the results at a glance and use them as a basis for further talks with the patient and his therapeutic approach.