Report of the US Preventive Services Task Force

Article Abstract:

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was formed in 1984 to evaluate the use of preventive health measures in the clinical setting. The final report, entitled the "Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of 169 Interventions", recommends when to use these interventions to help prevent 60 illnesses and conditions. The guide is addressed to physicians, nurses, and other primary care providers; it outlines the use of screening procedures, immunizations, patient counseling, and other measures for different groups of patients based on age, sex, and risk factors. Research literature was thoroughly reviewed and an international network of experts participated in determining the recommendations. One of the general conclusions of the USPSTF is that personal health practices, such as the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, may be more important to good health than the use of many screening tests for early detection of disease. In the United States, 40 to 70 percent of the years of productive life that are lost can be prevented by adopting healthy habits. Counselling and educating patients on issues such as safety belt use may be more valuable than certain costly tests such as routine blood cell counts. Health professionals should tailor their choice of preventive measures to the individual, considering such factors as family history and occupational hazards. Patients should take an active part in their health care and maintenance. The USPSTF guide is the most comprehensive source of recommendations on preventive health services that is now available. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Management, Reports, Medical screening, Health screening, Preventive health services, Preventive medicine, Diagnostic services, United States. Preventive Services Task Force, editorial

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The Need for Perspective in Evidence-Based Medicine

Article Abstract:

The US should develop a national database containing information about the most effective treatments for specific diseases. Doctors are reporting this information in journals, but no one is collecting the reports and organizing them in a database that can be accessed by doctors, patients, and public health officials. It is especially critical to determine what kinds of behavioral changes can prevent disease. In the US, most health care expenditures occur in seriously ill patients, particularly at the end of life. Only 3% of all expenditures are spent on preventing disease.

Medicine, Information services, Information storage and retrieval systems

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Validity of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Clinical Practice Guidelines: How Quickly Do Guidelines Become Outdated?

Article Abstract:

Practice guidelines should be re-assessed every three years to incorporate new evidence. A study of 17 guidelines issued by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that only three were still valid and that half of all guidelines might be out-of-date after five years. Practice guidelines are documents that recommend treatments for specific diseases based on scientific evidence.

Research, Practice guidelines (Medicine)

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