Assessing Treatment Outcome in Psychogeriatric Inpatients

Ratings on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale were obtained preand post-treatment from 37 male and 67 female psychogeriatric inpatients (age mean = 74.9, range = 54-91). Results indicated that a large treatment effect occurred, as GAF scores were significantly higher upon discharge than on admission (p < .0005, ES = 1.83). Pre-treatment GAF scores were also significantly correlated with length of stay (r = ▭ .20, p < .013). The findings suggest that the GAF scale is a useful tool for predicting length of stay and for measuring clinical change in elderly psychiatric patients.