PubMed HealthSearch

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Screening programs”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Effect of a screening program on changing patterns of lead poisoning.

A biphase program of screening and treating high-risk children for lead poisoning resulted in a 30% fall in mean lead values in the target areas over a 5-year period. The mean and median for subjects under 6 years was 4-10 mug/100 ml higher than for those over 6. Median for a high incidence area was 42 mug/100 ml in 1967 and 30.0 in 1971; for a low incidence area, 33 and 20 mug/100 ml in the equivalent years. Ingestion of lead paint was observed or demonstrated by x-ray in 90% of 2200 patients treated in the Lead Clinic. Gross neurologic sequelae were limited to two cases of mild, persistent ataxia. Impaired intellectual performance was observed subsequently in several asymptomatic patients with initial blood lead levels (PbB) >/= 100 mug/100 ml.

Chicago

Sociomedical factors affecting participation in screening program on cerebro- and cardio- vascular disease.

In 1984 the Public Health Bureau of Nagoya City began a new health check-up program to encourage citizens aged 40 years to have a medical examination. The rate of participation was 46.6% greater than that of the previous program; however, at about 16%, it was still low. From the survey in Moriyama Ward following results were suggested. Housewives and female part-time workers who had not had a health examination during the previous year showed participation rates of 32.7% and 42.4%, respectively. It would seem that the low rate of participation in the health examination program conducted in the metropolitan area by the municipal Public Health Bureau is due to the existence of many medical care facilities, and the fact that 64.6% of men and 52.6% of women had undergone a medical examination in the year preceding the program. Total screening rates became 69.7% in males and 66.0% in females. Participation rates of 32.7% and 42.4% were achieved by unemployed women and by women with part-time employment, respectively, who had no experience of screening in the previous year. Total screening rates were 63.7% for the unemployed women and 82.1% for the part-time women.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Improving future preventive care through educational efforts at a women's community screening program.

Cervical cancer mortality continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Pap Test screening programs have been effective in attracting high risk women, but the impact of these programs on subsequent health care has seldom been explored. This follow up study examined the impact of a cervical cancer screening and education program on preventive health behaviors of New Hampshire women in the 24 months following the screening program. A mailed survey was sent to a random sample of 750 women from program participants to evaluate both their recent preventive health care practices and to identify perceived barriers to obtaining preventive health services. Of these, 71.1 percent responded. Survey responses of the original program participants were linked to each subject's previous answers to the same questions asked 24 months earlier. A comparison group was derived by asking follow up study participants to identify a female acquaintance within five years of her age. Seventy-four percent of the comparison group responded. Survey responses of original program participants were then compared to those of the comparison group. Results indicate that women who participated in the original Project received significantly more preventive health care services in the two years since the Project than in the two years prior to it. Women in the comparison group received more Paps and clinical breast examinations than women in the participant group, perhaps because all participants had received a Pap test two years before. Having a regular health care provider was the most significant characteristic associated with obtaining indicated preventive services. An important contribution of community screening programs may be to encourage women to establish a regular source of care.

Adult

Evaluation of a Tay-Sachs screening program on a college campus.

A screening program for Tay-Sachs disease was done on a predominantly unmarried, university student population and later evaluated. Ten carriers were detected among a population of 390 screened. Voluntarily screened individuals were given a questionnaire at the time of screening and after their carrier status was revealed. In addition, individuals in a target population were queried as to why they did not attend the screening. Results of evaluation indicate that both the screened and unscreened students were able to answer approximately two thirds of a set of questions on Tay-Sachs correctly, but there was widespread lack of knowledge regarding the implications of carrier status and inheritance of the disease. In general, respondents to the questionnaires were not opposed to abortion. However, when asked about the family planning alternatives that they would consider if they were carriers, more subjects preferred adoption, artificial insemination, or avoidance of pregnancy to abortion.

Abortion, Eugenic

Stereopsis testing in a preschool vision screening program.

We conducted a preschool vision screening study using stereopsis testing with the Random Dot E and Lang stereotests as a complement to visual acuity measurement. Over 6000 children were screened. Stereopsis testing at a threshold of 600 seconds of arc was cognitively easier for the children than visual acuity measurement. At this threshold there was no effect on reducing the rate of visual acuity overreferrals, but ten children with abnormal binocular vision were detected who were not referred by visual acuity criteria. Though a large number of children passed only one of the two stereotests, there was no significant difference in their degree of difficulty. Stereopsis testing with these two stereotests may be a useful adjunct to preschool vision screening programs though further studies are required.

Child, Preschool

The North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program: foundations and design of a model for reaching older, minority, rural women.

Breast cancer screening programs do not reach all women at the same rate. Screening mammography use varies according to sociodemographic characteristics; mammography utilization is highest among women in their fifties but then decreases with age. In North Carolina, breast cancer is a particular burden for Black and lower-income women. Black women are more likely to be diagnosed with late stage disease, and their rate of breast cancer mortality is higher than it is for White women even though the incidence in White women is greater. Older, Black, and low-income women are less likely to obtain screening by mammography and clinical breast examination. The Black-White gap is even more pronounced among rural women, in part because they are more likely to be poor. The North Carolina Breast Cancer Screening Program (NC-BCSP) was established to increase the rate of regular mammography screening by an absolute 20% in 3 years among older Black women ages 50 and older in five rural counties in the eastern part of the state. In this paper, we describe the genesis of this comprehensive community intervention model, highlighting the behavioral science constructs, health education principles, and theories of behavioral and organizational change that form its conceptual foundation. NC-BCSP's theoretical foundations include the social ecological perspective, the PRECEDE model of health promotion, the Health Belief Model of individual change, and the "stages of change" transtheoretical model. We also review the experiences and lessons learned from two previous outreach initiatives in North Carolina that provided valuable "lessons" in the development of the NC-BCSP intervention model. In the second half of the paper, we describe the actual NC-BCSP interventions, activities, and evaluation tools, citing specific examples of how the underlying theories are implemented. NC-BCSP's goal goes beyond individual behavior change to raise low mammography screening rates among Black women in rural North Carolina. Its ultimate objective is to create linkages across agencies, and between agencies and communities, that will endure after the research project ends.

Adult

Comprehensive vision screening program: Illinois' approach.

This article discusses a statewide vision screening program that utilizes trained and certified vision screening technicians under the auspices of the Department of Public Health. Public Act 81-174, the Child Vision and Hearing Test Act, mandates periodic vision screening of children using accepted and approved instruments and standards. The program receives consultation from the Children's Vision Services Advisory Committee, consisting of optometrists, ophthalmologists and others in health and education programs. Topics addressed include: training and certification of technicians; screening, referral and follow-up; program summary of statewide screening statistics of 1.2 million children for fiscal year 1985, etc.

Adolescent

Mammographic parenchymal patterns as risk indicators for incident cancer in a screening program: an extended analysis.

In a screening program of self-referred women, different mammographic parenchymal patterns were related to significantly different rates for developing breast cancer. The risk of cancer detection subsequent to a negative mammographic examination was 7.6 times greater for women in the highest parenchymal risk class compared with the lowest, an increase in risk comparable to that of a personal history of breast cancer and greater than that reported for any other combination of historical risk factors. These differences are qualitatively similar to, but of a lesser magnitude than, those in previous reports which were based on symptomatic women with previous negative mammograms. Data suggest this difference in risk is inherent between parenchymal patterns, rather than indicating difficulty in identifying small cancers in dense breasts. Findings of differential parenchymal risk, coupled with other risk factors, may lead to concentrating mammographic screening on a smaller segment of the population, thus improving the benefit-to-cost ratio.

Adult

Survey of departments of health about PKU screening programs.

Mailed questionnaires were used to examine the success of PKU (phenylketonuria) screening programs that were operated by departments of health and to examine differences between these programs. Of 55 departments, 44 were returned and 42 departments reported they had a PKU detection program. Thirty-eight respondents considered the PKU detection program to be effective, and 31 respondents indicated that the entire program cost $60,000 or less per year. The answers and comments on the questionnaires showed a generally positive view of the effectiveness about the value of the treatment program in general were also positive. However, a few departments indicated that more clinical evidence and experience were needed to fully evaluate the overall merits of PKU detection and screening programs.

Costs and Cost Analysis

Alcohol abuse screening instruments: normative test data collected from a first DWI offender screening program.

OBJECTIVE: A variety of instruments are used by Driving While Impaired (DWI) screening programs nationwide to assess offenders for alcohol- or drug-related problems. This study presents normative data from five standardized instruments administered by a DWI screening program: the MAC scale of the MMPI, the Alcohol Use Inventory (AUI), the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST) and the Skinner's Trauma Scale (STS). METHOD: The population under study were 2,317 first DWI offenders who completed screening evaluations in 1989-91. The sample included 24% women; the racial distribution was 46% Hispanic, 43% non-Hispanic white, 8% Native American and 3% other races. A statistical model was developed to determine associations among scores on the various instruments and age, gender, ethnicity, education, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and validity measures on the MMPI-2 (L and K scale scores) RESULTS: There were significant differences in test scores among the ethnic- and gender-specific client groups. Test scores were significantly higher among men than women for the MAST, the D1 and D2 scales of the AUI, the MAC, and the STS. Correlations among the instruments were generally low, and the percentage of persons who scored above instrument cut-points varied significantly. The MAST identified the highest percentage of persons as alcoholic. MMPI profile validity was the most significant independent variable associated with test scores. Persons with scores in the valid range had higher mean scores on each of the instruments. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of instruments used in the DWI assessment can greatly influence the percentage of offenders assessed as having alcohol-related problems.

Accidents, Traffic

Pharmacy-based screening program for tardive dyskinesia.

An ongoing screening program using pharmacists to detect tardive dyskinesia (TD) was developed, and a pharmacy-based prevalence survey of TD in chronic hospitalized psychiatric patients was undertaken to determine the extent of abnormal involuntary movements. The results show that older patients and women in particular are at higher risk for developing abnormal movements. Higher doses of neuroleptics were used in non-TD patients, indicating a possible masking effect caused by these drugs. By using a standardized rating method such as the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale, pharmacists can and should be utilized in the surveillance of TD.

Adolescent

[Automatic perimetry in screening programs].

This work has studied the use of automatic perimetry in glaucoma screening programs. Subjects with suspicious glaucoma were selected on the basis of tonometry and direct ophthalmoscopy. Visual fields were analyzed using the G1 program of the Octopus 500 E automatic perimeter. A prevalence of 3.49% of glaucoma was observed in persons above 40 years old. This represents a higher incidence in comparison to other studies. The inclusion only of those subjects with suspicious glaucoma for automatic perimetry has resulted in a more precise and earlier diagnosis of glaucoma without unduly prolonging the duration of the study. Undoubtedly, automatic perimetry can improve both the reliability of the diagnosis and incidence of glaucoma in screening programs. Moreover, this does not necessarily mean more prolonged or costly studies.

Adult

What participants understand about a maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening program.

We investigated the knowledge of pregnant women participating in a maternal serum alphafetoprotein (MSAFP) screening program for the detection of neural tube defects (NTDs) in the fetus. Women participating in the screening program scored higher on two knowledge tests than a comparison group of pregnant women who were not offered screening. However, there were substantial gaps in the knowledge base of women in the program, as measured by one of the tests. Women did not misinterpret a negative test result to mean that the test had identified a potential problem with the fetus; instead, there is a suggestion that they tended to interpret a negative result too positively, as an assurance that the baby was healthy in all respects.

Adult

Developing a breast cancer screening program for Chinese-American women.

The Chinese, like other minority groups, often underuse cancer screening services because of language, cultural, and economic barriers. Nonattendance reduces the probability that cancer will be detected in its earliest and often most curable form. To improve use of cancer screening services among Chinese-Americans, a community-based coalition organized a one-day demonstration cancer awareness and screening program--the Breast Cancer Screening Day for Chinese Women. More than 100 women, many of whom did not speak English, attended the program. Six abnormal mammograms required follow-up and one breast cancer was detected. The planning process used to develop this successful project is described as are suggestions to improve future screening programs for ethnic minorities.

Adolescent

Results of a prenatal screening program for the human immunodeficiency virus in a cross-sectional population.

A prenatal screening program for antibody to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was examined prospectively in a cross-sectional population. Routine screening was performed on 3,241 women during the first trimester. Serum samples yielding repeatedly positive results on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 6) were subjected to confirmatory Western blot testing. All the specimens were determined to be false positive with atypical banding regions not consistent with HIV-1 infection. This false-positive rate was higher than in previous reports of screening programs in low-risk populations (P less than .005). Since antibody to HIV may not be detectable for several months after infection, we serially tested 984 of the women in different trimesters of pregnancy to determine whether repeat testing would yield seroconversion undetected at the first screening. No patient who initially tested negative on the ELISA tested positive later in gestation. We therefore recommend that routine screening be performed only once during pregnancy, preferably in the first or early second trimester, in the general population.

Adolescent

A successful breast cancer screening program.

A private, low-cost mammography screening program in Charlotte, North Carolina, has grown from one to four fixed sites in the past 6 years and now screens more than 25,000 women annually. An ongoing medical audit of the program shows that the percentage of patients with breast cancer with positive lymph nodes has decreased from 29% to 13%, and the percentage of minimal cancers found has increased from 31% to 52%. Compliance for regular screening has remained at approximately 50% for the past 2 years. Means of increasing compliance to desired levels are discussed.

Breast Neoplasms