Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Paper Research

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment - Research Paper Example Presenting complaints For the past five years Mrs.Rozario had been having an increasing memory loss and difficulty to move around for her daily functions. Previously she could walk or board the bus to town for shopping or to church. Her memory too became poorer. Executive functions slowly dwindled and she was unable to do many things herself. Help was needed on occasions. Sleep became disturbed. Moreover she seemed to withdraw from her friends and family whom she used to meet frequently and spend her time laughing and conversing with in better days. Recently she had a fall and had broken her femur. This had upset her further though that phase had been successfully passed over. Winter aggravated her mobility problem. Even with multiple complaints and problems she had been reluctant to approach anyone for help. She attributed her complaints to aging. It was at the behest of her son that she had now agreed to come. With the son’s assistance, the problems were all hopefully reveal ed. Past Medical history It said that she had been taking anti-hypertensives for the last twenty years. She used to be regular in her appointments with the physician but had lost that regularity of late. Previous medical history did not reveal any significant issue. Her pregnancies terminated normally and she has two children. Significant childhood diseases or history of immunizations were not remembered. Hospitalization had been only for her deliveries and her recent fracture femur. With no history of allergies, she could take any medicine. She was on 25 mg. Atenolol daily and had antacids occasionally. Analgesics and pills for sleeping comfortably had been prescribed at the local care center as and when she found it difficult to walk because of pain or could not sleep. She had ill-fitting dentures as she had lost weight recently. Cognitive impairment was present. Nutrition Her diet included more of cereals and porridges with small quantity of fruits and vegetables. Her dentures di d not fit well due to her loss of weight and so she would rather have a diet easily swallowed. She was having a diminished appetite. The history of constipation was elicited. Her son claimed that financial resources were not a hindrance to nutrition as he was looking after her. However she was staying alone and inability to cook her meals and have them could be the reason for the limited nutrition. Current weight was 50 kg. while her expected weight was 65 kg with reference to the Body Mass Index. Recent change in body weight had been noticed after she recovered from the fracture of the femur. Her current medications could have affected her appetite or digestion. Loneliness could be a factor which had limited her nutritional status. Vitamin or mineral supplementation was not her habit. She had mild depression for which she was not being treated. She used to read widely but her vision was failing and she had not met an ophthalmologist for assessment and reading had been stopped. Ther e were no independent transportation facilities unless her son arrived. She was not motivated enough to look after herself. It could be due to her failing cognitive functions. Consumption of her anti-hypertensive drug or other medicines was irregular and consisted of more than 3 drugs. The nutrition assessment was completed with a checklist. Mrs. Rozario agreed to most of the suggestions in the checklist. She ate less than two meals