First new screening recommendations from the third US Preventive Services Task Force

doi:10.1136/bmjusa.01040004

BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmjusa.01040004, (Published 5 September 2002)

Clinical review

First new screening recommendations from the third US Preventive Services Task Force

David Atkins, coordinator for clinical preventive services.

Center for Practice and Technology Assessment, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD 20852, USA

Correspondence to: David Atkins, Center for Practice and Technology Assessment, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 6010 Executive Blvd, Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20852, USA datkins@ahrq.gov

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

This article originally appeared in BMJ USA

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is an independent panel first convened in 1984 by the US Department of Healthand Human Services to develop evidence-based recommendations forclinicians about preventive health care. The Guide to ClinicalPreventive Services, released in 1989¹ and completely revisedin 1996,² assessed more than 200 common screening tests, counselinginterventions, immunization strategies, and medications for preventionof disease. The primary audience for USPSTF recommendations continuesto be clinicians in primary care settings, but many professionalsocieties, health plans and insurers, quality organizations, andpolicy makers have come to rely on the USPSTF for rigorous andobjective guidance about which preventive services should be routinelyincorporated into clinical practice.³

The third USPSTF was convened in late 1998 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). A priority-setting process,which included review by staff and input from outside expertsand . . . [Full text of this article]