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A good medical care program for the elderly requires a thorough assessment of the functional capacity and limitations of the consulting patients. Aim: To perform a geriatric assessment to elderly subjects consulting in a public outpatient clinic. Patients and methods: A cross sectional assessment of subjects over 60 years old, beneficiaries of the public health care system and consulting in 4 outpatient clinics of a poor community of Metropolitan Santiago. Evaluation included a complete medical history, the Katz score for activities of daily living (ADL), Lawton score for instrumental activities for daily living (IADL) and Folstein Mini Mental state examination. Results: During the study period 1,023 subjects, 73% female, aged 74±7 years, were assessed. Thirteen percent were illiterate, 78% elementary school, 8% had high school and 0.2% university education. Eighty eight percent lived with relatives, 79% did not participate in community groups and 7% smoked. The most common chronic disease detected was high blood pressure in 61%, followed by obesity in 32%, osteoarthritis in 22%, diabetes mellitus in 17%, depression in 11%, cardiac diseases in 8%, hypothyroidism in 3% and epilepsy in 1%. ADL score showed partial dependency in 11% and total dependency in 2%. IADL score showed partial dependency in 41% and total dependency in 4%. Mini Mental score was abnormal in 31% of subjects. Conclusions: High blood pressure, osteoarthritis, depression and cognitive impairment are the most common health problems in this sample of elderly subjects. ADL score showed a low rate of dependency (Rev Med Chile 2003; 131: 895-901)