Question

How should epidemiology play a role in the health policy determinations that affect the application of screening tests? Your initial response should be 250 -500 words in length.

Answer 1

Epidemiology, the science of distribution of diseases and risk factors in populations is the basis for all sound and rational health policy. Screening is beneficial if we can detect disease prior to time of usual clinical diagnosis and if treatment or control at this point is either more effective or easier to apply than treatment initiated later. Mass screening is not selective but involves application of screening tests to the total population. Selective screening involves applying the screening tests to high risk groups. The disease or condition being screened for should be a major medical problem. Acceptable treatment should be available for individuals with diseases discovered in the screening process. Access to healthcare facilities and services for follow-up diagnosis and treatment for the discovered disease should be available. The disease should have a recognizable course, with identifiable early and latent stages. Descriptive and analytic epidemiologic methods are useful for establishing and understanding Extent of public health problem, Efficacy of treatment, Access to health care, Natural course of disease, Efficacy of a screening or diagnostic test. Epidemology has its main role in health policy that affects screening in terms Validity – How well the test actually measures what it is supposed to measure. Reliability – How well the test performs in use over time(its repeatability). Yield – The amount of screening the test can accomplish in a time period.