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What Makes a Screening Exam "Good"? | Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association

journalofethics.ama-assn.org · 1,553 words · saved by 1 readers

Screening tests are used to determine whether an asymptomatic individual has an undetected disease or condition. Screening is currently used in many contexts, including blood pressure monitoring for identifying hypertension, prostate-specific antigen measurement for signs of prostate cancer, colonoscopy for detection of colorectal carcinoma, and mammography for evidence of breast cancer. Unfortunately some screening tests lack credible scientific bases and misrepresent the risks and benefits of testing to the patient. Many of the tests are marketed directly to the patient [1], so it is important for people to know what makes a screening exam "good." How do we know that a screening study accurately determines the likelihood that a patient does or does not have the disease in question? The 2 major objectives of a good screening program are: (1) detection of disease at a stage when treatment can be more effective than it would be after the patient develops signs and symptoms, and (2) iden

Virtual Mentor. 2006;8(1):34-37. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2006.8.1.cprl1-0601. Citation PDF Altmetric Screening tests are used to determine whether an asymptomatic individual has an undetected disease or condition. Screening is currently used in many contexts, including blood pressure monitoring for identifying hypertension, prostate-specific antigen measurement for signs of prostate cancer, colonoscopy for detection of colorectal carcinoma, and mammography for evidence of breast cancer. Unfortunately some screening tests lack credible scientific bases and misrepresent the risks and benefits

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