A PILOT-STUDY OF A COMPUTERIZED ASSESSMENT (AGE-PC) FOR THE ELDERLY IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

A pilot project was undertaken in Liverpool UK, to investigate whether data useful for both general practice and public health purposes coul d be collected by primary care personnel using a computerized semi-str uctured interview (AGE-PC) for assessment of patients aged 75 and over . A high degree of variation between practices was found in the propor tion of elderly assessed with AGE-PC largely related to motivation to undertake assessments and methods employed to approach patients. Consi derable differences between and within practices were evident in staff attitudes to the need for detailed formal assessments and the use of computers. Several aspects of the AGE-PC package itself were identifie d as requiring modification including streamlining data transfer metho ds, adding facilities for analysis and giving users a degree of choice over content of the assessment. This technique does offer a potential ly efficient means of collecting very detailed standardized data for i ntra- or inter-practice analysis while at the same time generating a c omprehensive report for individual patients. However, in the context o f the over-75 assessments it was too time-consuming. Possible future s trategies are discussed such as using an initial screening stage with a self-report questionnaire to reduce numbers needing full assessment and the use of the package for the community care assessments. The pil ot project highlighted some of the potential advantages and disadvanta ges of collecting data from primary health care for public health purp oses. One of the most salient lessons learnt was the importance of inv olving the different team members in the planning process so that ther e is agreement on: the essential data items required by both parties, the use of a uniform method of approaching and sampling patients for a ssessments, the importance of accuracy and obtaining a high response r ate, and finally that the whole procedure must be easy and not involve too much time or effort on the part of the overloaded primary care st aff.