Primary care guidelines for geriatric assessment. A structured, comparative analysis.

A structured geriatric assessment (GA) improves the quality of health care; however, the quality of GA guidelines has hardly been investigated. Eight guidelines were identified by systematically searching guideline databases, web sites of guideline developers, and PubMed. The methodological quality was assessed by two appraisers using the German Guideline Evaluation Instrument (DELBI). Guideline content was extracted; organizational and medical recommendations were compared. The methodological appraisal revealed a broad range of quality. The domains "Scope and purpose" and "Clarity and presentation" showed good results. The domains "Applicability" and "Editorial independence" had results that were not as good. Medical recommendations agreed to a great extent. GA should be delivered continuously for all older people in their homes by one responsible assessor. In cooperation with relatives, patient-centered therapy goals should be defined. Differences were identified in profession, instruments, aims, and "tailoring." The quality of primary care guidelines for GA may be improved. Details of organization of a GA require further research.