HEALTH SCREENING

Course overview

A HEALTH SCREENING TEST IS A MEDICAL TEST OR PROCEDURE PERFORMED ON MEMBERS OF AN ASYMPTOMATIC POPULATION OR POPULATION SUBGROUP TO ASSESS THEIR LIKELIHOOD OF HAVING A PARTICULAR DISEASE. HEALTH PROFESSIONALS OFTEN THINK OF SCREENING FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF CANCER (SUCH AS PAP SMEARS FOR CERVICAL CANCER OR COLONOSCOPY FOR COLON CANCER), BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER SCREENING TESTS COMMONLY USED, FOR EXAMPLE, THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE (TSH) FOR CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM IN NEWBORNS, CHOLESTEROL LEVEL FOR HEART DISEASE, URINE DRUG SCREEN FOR ILLICIT DRUG USE, OR BLOOD PRESSURE FOR HYPERTENSION. SOME SCREENING TESTS ARE APPLIED TO A LARGE SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION (FOR INSTANCE, ALL ADULTS OLDER THAN AGE 50), WHILE OTHERS TARGET A SMALLER SUBSET OF THE POPULATION (PREGNANT WOMEN). MANY SCREENING TESTS ARE WIDELY USED IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ACTIVITY PROVIDES GUIDELINES ON THE CURRENT SCREENING TESTS AND THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN PATIENT EDUCATION ON THE BENEFITS OF SCREENING.