OBJECTIVE: Improving access to preventive care requires addressing patient, provider, and systems barriers. Patients often lack knowledge or are skeptical about the importance of prevention. Physicians feel that they have too little time, are not trained to deliver preventive services, and are concerned about the effectiveness of prevention. We have ...

BACKGROUND: As a part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Former Workers' Medical Surveillance Program, a Needs Assessment was conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The objective was to identify former LANL employees who may be at significant risk for occupational disease and determine whether a medical examination ...

The authors performed a retrospective review of scoliosis screening data collected by school health nurses annually from 1985 to 1996. The data collected included 20 variables for all in the sixth and eighth grades and follow-up data for a portion of the referred students in the District of Columbia's public ...

We describe the implementation of a mandatory tuberculosis (TB) screening program that uses symptom screening and tuberculin skin testing in homeless shelters. We used the results of DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates to evaluate the effect of the program on TB incidence and transmission. After the program was implemented, ...

Mild errors of morphogenesis (MEMs) are findings of great importance in multiple fields because of their predictive value in identification of major malformations, specific genetic syndromes, mental retardation and childhood malignancy. In order to evaluate the contribution of auricular MEMs, we constructed a computerized program, especially designed for the recording ...

This article reviews the literature on health surveillance conducted during military deployments, focusing on models for assessing the impact of operational deployments on peacekeepers. A discussion of the stressors and potential mental health consequences of peacekeeping operations follows with relevant examples of findings from U.S. and international military forces. Psychological ...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the cost-effectiveness of an orthoptic screening program in kindergarten children. METHODS: An empiric cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted as part of a field study of orthoptic screening. Three-year-old children (n = 1180) in 121 German kindergartens were screened by orthoptists. The number ...

OBJECTIVE: To estimate potential costs and benefits of routinely using tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to screen newborns for inborn errors of metabolism. METHOD: Analysis of costs and benefits resulting from use of MS/MS in screening of 32 000 newborn infants using data from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of ...

BACKGROUND: This study reports results of a controlled evaluation of a comprehensive community breast screening promotion program. This program promoted increased use of mammography, clinical breast examination, and breast self-examination through community organization, physician training, and public education. METHODS: The program was conducted in one of three matched Florida study ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cost-effectiveness of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) in a neonatal screening panel for 14 fatty acid oxidation and organic acidemia disorders in the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Program. STUDY DESIGN: An incremental cost-effectiveness analysis with a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 infants was performed. A threshold of $50,000/QALY (quality-adjusted ...

BACKGROUND: The incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is increasing, and the prognosis of ruptured AAA remains dismal. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial. We designed this study to determine whether selected population screening with a brief "quick-screen" ultrasound could be cost-effective. METHODS: A series of 25 patients with risk ...

OBJECTIVE: To show how marketing methods can be used to distribute and evaluate a health promotion intervention. METHODS: Mass media promotion was used to communicate a physical activity resource. Brief telephone interviews were used to screen callers and recruit participants into a controlled trial. Follow-up was conducted 3 months later. ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of an online lecture versus a live lecture on screening given to medical students who are participating in an outpatient clerkship. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Ninety-five senior medical students in a primary care medicine clerkship based at university and distant clinic ...

Genetic screening programs should meet certain criteria before they can be introduced into the community. The aim of this study was to discuss pilot studies for cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier screening before and during pregnancy in the light of important genetic screening criteria. Overall, CF carrier screening meets the prerequisites ...

BACKGROUND: Previous school-based studies in cities with a high prevalence of chlamydia found a substantial prevalence of chlamydial infection among students. GOAL: The goal was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of chlamydia and gonorrhea screening in San Francisco high schools. STUDY DESIGN: Sexually transmitted disease (STD) education and screening ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess current technical quality control (QC) practices within breast cancer screening or surveillance programs internationally. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The International Breast Cancer Screening Network (IBSN) conducted an extensive survey of quality assurance (QA) activities in developed countries known to have population-based breast cancer screening or surveillance programs in ...

Colorectal cancer screening is advocated by expert groups based on strong evidence of effectiveness, yet only approximately 1 in 3 Americans are screened. For a screening program to be effective, it is necessary for providers to offer and patients to accept screening, insurers to pay for screening, and provider groups ...

Research into ageing is among the priorities of the Leiden University Medical Center. Several tight collaborations between basic and clinical departments are the basis of this program. Our focus is to identify determinants of human longevity and disease at old age with an emphasis on inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cognitive decline. ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the proportion of university students that are psychologically distressed when compared to an age and sex matched population sample and to describe the factors that may contribute to their distress. DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparison study. METHODS: The general health questionnaire (GHQ 30), previously validated in Sinhala, was ...

The choice of timing of screening examinations is an important element in determining the efficacy of strategies for the early detection of occult disease. In this article, we describe a flexible decision-making framework for the design of early detection programs, and we investigate the choice of timing when each individual ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the costs and performance characteristics associated with the start-up phase of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programs, one utilizing automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) and the other using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE). STUDY DESIGN: Economic and performance data were collected at the initiation of both screening programs. ...

This study examines the effectiveness of breast cancer screening education programs on mammography rates among African-American women 40 years of age and over. We conducted two types of educational programs in community settings, primarily in African-American churches. Three-month follow-up interviews were used to determine whether women who participated in programming ...

OBJECTIVE: To define current practice among US newborn screening programs for notification of results, research, and consenting procedures. METHODS: A telephone survey of all US newborn screening program supervisors. RESULTS: All 51 programs participated. All states reported abnormal results to the infant's physician, and some also reported to the hospital ...

BACKGROUND: Contrast sensitivity testing can be a useful supplement to standard visual acuity tests. Currently there are no standards for contrast sensitivity in military aviation. Student naval pilots, who often have better-than-average visual acuity, could be expected to have better-than-average contrast sensitivity. Any attempt to establish contrast sensitivity standards for ...

PURPOSE: The Legs For Life(R) National Screening and Awareness Program for Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) was launched in 1999. A critical component of the screening program was an independent evaluation to provide additional information about the results of the program. This evaluation considers the health education impacts of the screening ...

BACKGROUND: Low- and no-cost mammography programs have become a widespread strategy to increase access to breast cancer screening in low-income populations. However, rigorous evaluations of who remains unscreened in communities with these programs are lacking. We conducted a case-control study of African American older women in East Baltimore, Maryland, comparing ...

Compliance rates from four iterations of Student Bodies, an 8-10 week computer assisted health education (CAHE) program for the prevention of eating disorders in college-aged women, were measured. Each iteration was modified with the hope of increasing participant compliance. Participants were 116 undergraduate women from two large West Coast universities ...

BACKGROUND: The economics of screening is part of the broader area of the economics of prevention, and is concerned with the allocation of resources to screening activities when confronted with the problem of scarcity. ISSUES: One important aspect of the economics of screening is the economic evaluation of screening programs. ...

This article describes the collaborative processes involved in the implementation of a free public health screening program for people at risk of lymphoedema following the removal of lymph nodes during surgery to control breast, prostate and other cancers, or injury. The planning phase of the program is described with emphasis ...

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of orthopedic screening programs for school-age children are still controversial. We conducted a prospective study in order to determine the frequency of undiagnosed orthopedic problems in an adolescent population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of undiagnosed orthopedic problems in an adolescent population discovered through routine physical examinations ...

Newborn screening programs collectively administer the largest genetic testing initiative in the United States. The redress of grievances is an important mechanism for consumers to provide input into clinical and public health programs. In this study, we evaluated mechanisms for addressing consumer grievances in newborn screening programs. To do this, ...

Selective screening and partner notification are two principal means of preventing and controlling syphilis in the United States, yet few studies have been undertaken to compare and evaluate the cost or effectiveness of detecting syphilis using either strategy. The objective of this paper is to assess from the perspective of ...

BACKGROUND: A screening programme to detect polyps or early carcinoma would significantly reduce the mortality and morbidity of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aims of the present study were to evaluate: (i) the feasibility of training general practitioners in flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) for CRC screening; (ii) the acceptability of screening by ...

Mass radiographic screening for tuberculosis has lost favour in many countries. The aim of this study was to determine whether the continued practice of such screening of prospective students at the University of the West Indies was warranted by assessing the yield and the cost of the programme in our ...

A review of recent economic studies of antenatal screening reveals widespread violation of accepted economic evaluation methodology. In particular, the costs and benefits of antenatal screening are often misclassified and conflated, and the non-resource effects of averted costs are often excluded from the evaluation process. The result is a widespread ...

The NDOP goals of enhancing diabetes awareness by increasing screening activities within select African American neighborhoods and involving residents in health promotion activities were met during the course of the project. The coalition focused on principles suggested for diabetes programs directed at African American communities, including involving a target audience, ...

OBJECTIVE: Implementation of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with widely available techniques can result in a significant reduction in CRC-related mortality. Clinical practice paradigms are often ingrained in physicians during residency. We, therefore, investigated both compliance and perceived obstacles to CRC screening in the practices of physicians-in-training. METHODS: We conducted a ...

This study assessed the vision-screening practices of all preschools and elementary schools during the spring of 2000 in the Heartland Area Education Agency (AEA) in central Iowa. Surveys were returned by 7% of the preschools and 56% of the elementary schools. Survey questions were drafted based on recommendations from the ...

This cross-sectional analysis evaluated the association between ethnicity and cognitive performance and determined whether education modifies this association for nondemented older people (103 African Americans, 1,388 Japanese Americans, 2,306 Caucasians) in a study of dementia incidence. African Americans scored lower (median 89 out of 100) than Japanese Americans (93) and ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the costs and referral rates of 3 universal newborn hearing screening programs: transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), automated auditory brainstem response (AABR), and a combination, two-step protocol in which TEOAE and AABR are used. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical outcomes (referral rates) from 12,081 newborns at 5 sites were ...

Since 1992, hundreds of buildings in Taiwan were discovered to have 60Co contamination in the structural rebar. The contamination resulted from improper handling of 60Co-contaminated scrap metal in 1982 and 1983, which subsequently was recycled and used throughout Taiwan. Hsin-hsin Kindergarten school enrolled about 600 students over the 10-y period ...

Young adults may suffer hyperlipoproteinemias, which may be asymptomatic. This pilot study was conducted to screen out hyperproteinemias in undergraduate university students. 30 asymptomatic students were randomly selected and preliminary examined: serum cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL were determined, 10.35% of the students had high cholesterol and triglycerides levels. It ...

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluated the effect of training in the American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon on the interpretive skills of radiologists evaluating screening mammograms in Ukraine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: As part of a program to improve breast cancer detection and ...

The biological effects of cyclosporin, namely immunosuppression and absence of cytotoxicity, were discovered-in the course of a general screening program in which many scientists at Sandoz were involved. Contrary to some statements in the literature both Dr J. Borel and Dr H. Stähelin markedly contributed to the discovery and characterisation ...

OBJECTIVE: to describe levels of knowledge relevant to genetic screening in a sample of midwives and obstetricians in the late 1990s, and to compare these with those found by Smith et al. in London and Wales, and reported in 1994; to describe health professionals' perceptions of an appropriate counselling process ...

OBJECTIVES: Health professionals play an integral role in assessing the risk of violence in their patients. However, there have been few evaluations of violence prevention education programs for health care personnel. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a violence-screening education program on pediatric residents' and ...

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the performance, effectiveness, and costs of a decentralized antenatal syphilis screening program in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: Health clinic data, quality control data, and costs were analyzed. RESULTS: The rapid plasma reagin (RPR) seroprevalence was 3.4%. In terms of screening, treatment, and partner notification, the ...

A computer-aided training program was developed in SuperCard and piloted with professional painters. Taking a modern programmed-instruction/behavioral-education approach, cTRAIN is structured as a series of information sets. Each information set consists of a series of information screens (three to five recommended) followed by quiz screens (one to three recommended) structured ...

Mass urinary screening has been carried out among the students of public and private elementary and junior high schools in the Province of Taiwan each semester since 1990. About 3 million students were screened each time. The students who had abnormal urine screening results at the first time received a ...

A program of mass urinary screening of elementary and junior high school students has been in operation since August 1990 in Taiwan Province. This program is done once a semester, i.e., twice a year. In the first 3 years, the total number of elementary and junior high school students to ...