The General Medical Health Rating: A Bedside Global Rating of Medical Comorbidity in Patients with Dementia

OBJECTIVE: Dementia is a serious public health problem. General medical comorbidity is common in dementia patients and critical to their care. However, little is known about medical comorbidity in these patients, and there are no straightforward bedside global rating scales for the seriousness of comorbid medical illness. This paper describes the development and measurement properties of the General Medical Health Rating (GHMR), a rapid global rating scale of medical comorbidity in dementia patients.

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