Multidimensional geriatric assessment: back to the future.

Cycling of events, modes, and cultural movements pervades history and art. Almost every time a new idea emerges, we are prompt to spot the roots of its inspiration in the past. Theories and practices once widely popular fade for decades until they are rediscovered, almost always with a different flavor or viewed from a different angle. Of course, because of improved experience, knowledge, and technology, the old and pale idea often turns into a modern and glamorous motif. Geriatric medicine is no exception: We can trace the origin of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) to the experience of the Sepulveda Geriatric Evaluation Unit (1), perhaps the single most important experiment in modern geriatrics conducted well over two decades ago.