12 Screening Flashcards
Q: What is screening? Different to?
A: practice of investigating apparently healthy individuals to detect unrecognised disease or its precursors so that measures can be taken to prevent or delay the development of disease or improve prognosis
Further diagnostic tests are then done to confirm diagnosis
A screening test is not the same as a diagnostic test.
Q: When is screening not generally indicated?
A: If earlier detection does not offer any hope of improved outcome then screening is generally not indicated ( e.g. earlier detection of breast cancer allows treatment (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy) that can reduce mortality (leading to increased survival)
Q: What are the limitations of screening? (3)
A: By definition screening tests are carried out on apparently healthy individuals and it is always possible that screening may, inadvertently, do more harm than good.
This could include false alarms, inducing anxiety, and the treatment of early disease which would not otherwise have become a problem.
When considering population screening programmes the benefits and harms must be carefully assessed, and the benefits should always outweigh the harms.
Q: An ideal screening test should be? (6)
A: simple, safe, acceptable, inexpensive, repeatable and valid (sensitive and specific).
Q: What is the validity of any test? How is it described? Additional parameter?
A: its ability to distinguish between subjects with the condition and those without
Validity is described in terms of sensitivity and specificity of the test
An additional test parameter is the predictive value. This is particularly useful in clinical practice
Q: What is the gold standard
A:a definitive test
Q: Describe the sensitivity of a screening test.
A: The sensitivity is the ability of the test to correctly identify people with the disease
sensitivity = a ÷ (a+c)
a= disease status + and test result + c= disease status + and test result -
Q: Describe the specificity of a screening test.
A: The specificity is the ability of the test to correctly identify people without the disease
specificity = d ÷ (b+d)
d= disease status - and test result - b= disease status - and test result +
Q: What is the the positive predictive value (PPV)? is
A: the likelihood that a patient with a positive test result will actually have the disease
positive predictive value = a ÷ (a+b)
a= disease status + and test result + b= disease status - and test result +
Q: What is the negative predictive value (NPV)?
A: the likelihood that a patient with a negative test result will not have the disease
negative predictive value = d ÷ (c+d)
d= disease status - and test result - c= disease status + and test result -
Q: What is the predictive value of a test dependent on?
A: – sensitivity
– specificity
– prevalence of the condition in the population
Q: What are Receiver Operator Characteristics (ROC) curves? Used to? How?
A: graphical display of the how the proportions of true positives and false positives change for each of the possible pre-determined values
used to determine a cut-off value for a diagnostic or screening test (continuous variable)- proportion of true-positives and false-positives are calculated for possible values
The choice of cut-off value for a test is informed by the attempt to maximize sensitivity and specificity
Generally, there is a trade-off between sensitivity and specificity, and the decision must be based on their relative importance
Q: What can occur in very low prevalence population with screening programmes? What’s needed in those situations?
A: a test with a “good” specificity (99%) will still lead to a low positive predictive value
Good and prompt confirmatory tests / follow-up are required in this situation to reduce unnecessary treatment or anxiety
Q: Screening can either involve? (2) Programmes and exmaples? (2)
A: the whole population (mass), or selected groups who are anticipated to have an increased prevalence of the condition (targeted)
In either of these there may be a systematic programme where people are called for screening (e.g. cervical cancer, breast cancer) or an opportunistic programme when a person presents to the doctor for some other reason and they are offered a test (e.g. Chlamydia screening in young people, blood pressure screening in older people)
Q: List 5 major screening programme types in the UK?
A: Antenatal screening Neonatal and childhood Cancers Infections Cardiovascular disease
Q: List 6 examples antenatal screening. Offered to?
A: – Syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B, rubella, chromosome abnormalities, foetal growth
– Some of these are offered to all pregnant women, others are based on risk assessments
Q: What are newborn babies screened for? (4) Checked for? Later?
A: – phenylketonuria, hypothyroidism, haemoglobinopathies and sickle cell disease (in some geographical areas where these conditions are more common).
– Babies are also checked for congenital hip dislocation. Routine checks in later childhood screen for problems with hearing and development.
Q: Give 3 examples of cancer programmes.
A: – There are systematic programmes for breast cancer and cervical cancer in women.
– A screening programme for bowel cancer for all men and women aged 60 – 69.
Q: What are people attending sexual health services offered? What screening is mandatory for health care workers? What’s a new national opportunistic screening programme rolled out across the country?
A: – screening for HIV
– Hepatitis B
– chlamdyia in young people (under 25)
Q: Give 2 examples of CVD screening. What type of screening is carried out in primary care?
A: – Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for men aged 65.
– Diabetic retinopathy screening for people aged 12 and over with diabetes.
– Targeted and opportunistic screening is carried out for blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes in primary care.
Q: Even after a disease is determined to be appropriate for screening and a valid test becomes available, it does not necessarily follow that a widespread screening programme should be implemented. Evaluation of a potential screening programme involves which 3 issues?
A: 1)Feasibility
2) Effectiveness
3) Cost
Q: Describe feasibility when evaluating potential screening programmes. Depend on?
A: Feasibility will depend on how easy it is to organise the population to attend for screening, whether the screening test is acceptable, whether facilities and resources exist to carry out the necessary diagnostic tests following screening.
Q: Describe effectiveness when evaluating potential screening programmes. How? Difficult why? (3)
A: Effectiveness is evaluated by measuring the extent to which implementing a screening programme affects the subsequent outcomes. This is difficult to measure because of a number of biases that affect most of the study designs used:
– Selection bias exists
– Lead time bias exists
– Length bias exists
Q: Why does length bias exist?
A: as some conditions may be slower in developing to a health threatening stage, that is, they have a longer preclinical stage. This means they are more likely to be detected at that stage but they may also have a more favourable prognosis leading to the false conclusion that screening is beneficial in lengthening the lives of those found positive.
