PubMed Health⌕ Search

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 1,135 records · Page 63Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Risk factors associated with tuberculin skin test positivity among university students and the use of such factors in the development of a targeted screening program.

The present study evaluated the accuracy of a risk assessment questionnaire (RAQ) for identifying candidates for tuberculin testing. A 33-question RAQ was administered to students before they underwent tuberculin screening at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond). Test operating characteristics for the complete and abbreviated RAQs compared to tuberculin skin test (TST) results were determined. Of 5382 students screened, 125 (2.3%) had a positive TST result; 113 (90.4%) of these 125 students had >or=1 affirmative response on the RAQ (i.e., a "positive RAQ"). The prevalence of TST positivity among students not born in the United States was 33.2-fold higher than that among students born in the United States. A 2-question RAQ had a sensitivity of 81.6%, a specificity of 91.0%, and positive and negative predictive values of 17.7% and 99.5%, respectively. Risk assessment can be an accurate means of identifying candidates for tuberculin screening.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Management of Chlamydia cases and their partners: results from a home-based screening program organized by municipal public health services with referral to regular health care.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the management of Chlamydia trachomatis cases and partners found in a systematic home-based chlamydia screening project in the Netherlands among 15- to 29-year-old women and men, organized by the Municipal Public Health Services (MHS). METHODS: Infected participants (165/8339 = 2%) were referred to regular curative services. The treating physician provided feedback on treatment and partner notification. RESULTS: Including the effect of a reminder, the treatment rate of all index cases was 91% (150/165); among persons with non-Dutch ethnicity, 81% (25/31). The majority of cases (82%) consulted the general practitioner for treatment as opposed to sexually transmitted disease/MHS clinics (18%). Eighty-five percent of cases were treated within 2 weeks. The confirmed treatment rate of partners in the last 6 months was 49% (86/176); 57% (81/141) for current versus 14% (5/35) for other partners. Patient referral was advised in an additional 18% (25/141) of current partners and in 9% (3/35) of other partners (potential treatment). CONCLUSION: Home-based chlamydia screening and treatment through regular treatment facilities has proven to be effective in the Netherlands. The necessity of a reminder to increase treatment rate and the lower treatment rate in non-Dutch high-risk groups deserve attention. Low confirmed treatment rate of current partners carries the potential of reinfection, and patient-delivered treatment should be expanded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

[The 1990 Bochum cholesterol and blood screening program. Incidence and degree of treatment of cardiovascular risk factors].

STUDY: Over a four-week period, 1,454 inhabitants of the town of Bochum (567 men = 39%, 887 women = 61%) were screened for cardiovascular risk factors. The sample was recruited from voluntary participants, two-thirds of whom were aged between 50 and 69. RESULTS: Age-adjusted mean total plasma cholesterol levels were 223 mg/dl for women, and 218 mg/dl for men. Age-adjusted mean systolic blood pressure were 136.7 mmHg for women, and 140.8 mmHg for men. The corresponding diastolic levels were 85.0 mmHg for women and 87.8 mmHg for men. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia (greater than or equal to 250 mg/dl) was 32.8%, that of hypertension (greater than or equal to 160/95 mmHg) was 32.7%. Age- and sex-specific mean figures and prevalences were lower for total cholesterol and markedly higher for blood pressure as compared with representative German studies. Previously unknown hypertension (greater than or equal to 160 mmHg systolic and/or greater than or equal to 95 mmHg diastolic) was detected in 10%, and hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol greater than or equal to 250 mgdl) in 16%. A reply postcard was received from the family doctors of only 11% of participants with elevated levels. This means that the follow-up rate remained far below the hoped-for level. CONCLUSIONS: Population screening can be useful in promoting primary and secondary cardiovascular disease by alerting the population to classical risk factors and informing participants about their own personal situation. In order to motivate individuals with high risk factors to act upon this information, screening should be associated with follow-up.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Conservative surgery in the environment of a screening program for breast carcinoma: evaluation of the results in terms of local recurrence].

This report evaluates the results of conservative surgery plus radiotherapy (QUART) in a group of 123 patients from the screening programme of the District Health Board USSL 41 in Brescia, Italy (over 250 tumours diagnosed in two screening rounds, between 1987 and 1993). To date no recurrence of neoplasms in the operated breast have been diagnosed in either of the two QUART groups (64 patients from the first round, average follow-up 28 months, median 66 months; 59 patients from the second round, average follow-up 28 months, median 30 months). A new carcinoma in the contralateral breast occurred in 3 patients (2 from the first and 1 from the second round), while in 3 cases there was a recurrence in another site (2 from the first and 1 from the second round). These results confirm both the proven effectiveness of conservative treatment in the local control of breast tumours, and the importance of the correct choice of conservative treatment in optimising aesthetic and therapeutic results.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

Risk factors as the basis for triage in low-resource cervical cancer screening programs.

OBJECTIVES: Several studies have shown impressive sensitivity and specificity of visual inspection using acetic acid wash (VIA) in detecting cervical dysplasia. This study examines how risk-factor based triage, using clinical history-taking to limit the testing to those at highest risk of disease, improves the clinical utility of VIA. METHODS: The study population included 2206 woman aged 25-56 from peri-urban primary care clinics in Zimbabwe. Three risk factors variables [age, lifetime number of sexual partners and history of a sexually transmitted infection (STI)] were selected as the basis for computer-simulated patient triage. Criteria for selecting risk factors were biological relevance, programmatic feasibility, historical evidence in the scientific literature as a risk factor for cervical cancer and a significant (P<0.05) predictor of dysplasia in this study population. Predictive values for VIA were calculated on subgroups of women with combinations of the three risk factors and then compared with the predictive value of VIA calculated on the full study population. RESULTS: The positive predictive value (PPV) among women with all three risk factors (30.2%) was 1.6 times higher than that of all study women and 4.5 times higher than women with none of the three risk factors (4.1%). Additionally, the PPV was slightly (30%) higher than that obtained from computer-simulated serial testing using VIA as the primary test followed by HPV testing (27.4%). CONCLUSION: Clinical history-taking could provide the basis for patient triage to increase the clinical utility of VIA. Such an approach could also serve to prioritize who gets tested first in low-resource countries with high disease prevalence that are struggling to strengthen national cervical cancer prevention programs.

Acetic Acid↗