Rationale to integrate comprehensive geriatric assessment for older olds pre- senting gastro-intestinal disorders

The prevalence of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms is under- estimated. However, complaints consistent with functional gas- trointestinal disorders are common in the elderly, but symptoms are a poor predictor of presentation for medical care. Moreover, chronic colonic symptoms appear to interfere with daily living and quality of life in the elderly. Clinicians are questioning about the diagnostic management of frail older adults presenting these com- mon and non specific symptoms. This paper proposes a definition of the "geriatric patient" and gives an overview of recently pub- lished literature concerning the concept of comprehensive geri- atric assessment. The rationale to integrate comprehensive geri- atric assessment for older adults presenting gastro-intestinal dis- orders is pointed out. (Acta gastroenterol. belg., 2006, 69, 283-286).