Screening (medicine)

Medical screening is a special way to look for health problems. It is used to find conditions that people do not know they have yet.

Most people being screened do not feel sick or show any signs of illness. The goal is to find a problem early before it turns into a serious disease. Finding things early can help doctors manage health better and save lives. However, screening is not a way to confirm a disease. It is just a way to look for risk markers or unknown conditions.

There are several ways that screening works in a community. One way is called mass screening, which tests everyone in a large group. Another way is case finding, where doctors only test people with certain risks. For example, a person might be tested if a family member has a hereditary disease. Some programs use targeted screening for specific groups of people.

Doctors might also use multiphasic screening. This means they use two or more different tests on a large group at the same time. This helps them look for many things at once instead of just one disease.

Experts have worked for a long time to make screening better. In 1968, the World Health Organization published important guidelines. Many people call these the Wilson and Jungner criteria. These rules help decide if a screening program is a good idea. For instance, the condition must be an important health problem. There must also be a way to treat the condition once it is found. In 2008, the WHO updated these ideas to include new genomic technologies.

These new rules help ensure that programs are fair and respect people's privacy.

Many different kinds of screening happen every day around the world. In the United States, the United States Preventive Services Task Force gives advice on screening. In the United Kingdom, the National Screening Committee provides these recommendations. Common tests include mammograms to check for breast cancer. Doctors also use colonoscopies to look for colorectal cancer. Schools in the U.S. often screen students for vision and hearing problems. Some programs even look at social determinants of health. These are things like education and economic status that can affect how healthy a person is.

It is important to remember that screening tests are not perfect. Sometimes a test gives a false positive result. This means the test says a person is sick, but they are actually healthy. This can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety. Other times, a test gives a false negative result. This means the test says a person is healthy, but they are actually sick. This can give someone a false sense of security. A false negative might even delay the real diagnosis and treatment.