[The degree of Objective Health Burden (OHB) - an expert assessment of the impairment caused by somatic illnesses in geriatric medicine].

The degree of Objective Health Burden (OHB) is an expert assessment of the impairment caused by somatic illnesses. It allows an overall clinical rating of the severity of a patient's somatic condition, considering all available information, not only the content or number of diagnoses. The rating on a five point scale is demonstrated with clinical examples. Interrater-reliability is satisfactory, being at least 0.74. External criteria indicate the OHB's validity. As the OHB is easy to comprehend and to employ, it is suitable for broad clinical application in geriatric basic assessment as well as for scientific purposes.