Background: Ten percent of the Chilean population is over 60 years old
and general practitioners need an instrument to assess the degree of
disability and multiple ailments of elders. Aim: To develop and use an
instrument to assess elders consulting in primary care outpatient cli
nics. Patients and methods: An instrument to be used by general practi
tioners, aimed to assess bio-psico-social risk of elders was devised b
y the Geriatrics Program at the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic Un
iversity of Chile. The instrument was used in 100 elders (82 female) a
ged 71+/-8 years old consulting in a primary care outpatient clinic. R
esults: The instrument took less than 5 minutes to be used. The most f
requent risk factors found were living alone in 62% of subjects, falls
in the last year in 47%, memory disturbances in 62%, overweight in 76
%, visual impairment in 76%, urinary incontinence in 26% and depressio
n in 76%. Thirty percent had difficulties to climb stairs and 4% had n
o support in case of severe disability. Conclusions: The applied instr
ument is fast to apply, easily understood by patients and detect probl
ems associated with old age, that will help to plan primary care healt
h programs.