Using comprehensive geriatric assessment for older adults undertaking a facility-based transition care program to evaluate functional outcomes: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in a residential transition care setting to measure older adults’ functional outcomes. METHODS: A convenience sample of older adults (n = 10) and staff (n = 4) was recruited. The feasibility of using assessment tools that comprise a CGA to comprehensively measure function in physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains was evaluated pre- and post-rehabilitation. RESULTS: 10 older adults (mean ± SD age = 78.9 ± 9.1, n = 6 male) completed a CGA performed using assessments across physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains. The CGA took 55.9 ± 7.3 min to complete. Staff found CGA using the selected assessment tools to be acceptable and suitable for the transition care population. Older adults found the procedure to be timely and 60% found the assessments easy to comprehend. Participating in CGA also assisted older adults in understanding their present state of health. The older adults demonstrated improvements across all assessed domains including functional mobility (de Morton Mobility Index; baseline 41.5 ± 23.0, discharge 55.0 ± 24.0, p = 0.01) and quality of life (EQ-5D-5L; baseline 59.0 ± 21.7, discharge 78.0 ± 16.0, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating CGA to evaluate functional outcomes in transition care using a suite of assessment tools was feasible and enabled a holistic assessment. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-03255-5.