A scoping review of community-based geriatric assessment and screening tools used in South Asia

Abstract

Background: Home-based comprehensive assessment and integrated care of the older people could be a key to relieve the pressure on the already overburdened health system. This review summarizes evidence on validated community-based geriatric assessment tools in South Asia. Methods: Guided by Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage scoping review framework, a total of 46 studies were included in the scoping review after searching from electronic databases and reference lists using the predefined eligibility criteria. Data were extracted on the main characteristics of included studies, identified instruments, and their psychometric properties of the tools. This review was reported in accordance with preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses-ScR guidelines. Results: Among the 46 included studies, 10 reported on instruments for medical assessment, 12 on tools for psychological conditions, 13 on tools for functional issues, 2 on social well-being, and 9 on tools with multiple domains of health. Most studies included participants from both gender and different social classes. Majority used measurements that were both self-reported or measured by the investigator, whereas only two instruments were designed to be used by clinicians. In the existing geriatric health assessment tools, environmental domain was neglected completely, and not a single tool considered in this review covered all 5 domains which influence regular life of the elderly. Conclusion: There are no validated tools available that can be used for comprehensive geriatric assessment in South Asia. There is a need to develop and validate culturally sensitive tools that can be used for assessing all the geriatric health domains.