Recommended Health Screenings

By Michael J. Lyons, D.O., Chief Medical Officer, Coastal Gateway Health Center 

What should I do? I’m not getting any younger.

  As we age it is important that we keep up with our required health screenings and maintenance. The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) or “Task Force” is the organization that makes most of the recommendations that we follow for health screenings, lifestyle changes, and immunizations.  Since 1984, the Task Force has made evidence-based recommendations using a sixteen (16) member team of experts in the fields of preventive medicine and primary care. Additionally, expert reviewers, partners, stakeholders, health professionals, and patients provide needed input.

There are so many recommendations. Which Recommendations should I follow?

  The Task Force goes through a painstaking process of reviewing topics, researching the evidence, drafting a recommendation, and then producing a final recommendation statement along with a grade.  Only a select few topics with significant enough data have a final recommendation with a grade.  The grading criteria are A: Recommended, B: Recommended, C: Recommendation depends on patient situation, D: Not recommended, or, I: There is not enough information to make a recommendation.

Which recommendations made the grade?

  Let us review some of the current Task Force “Grade A” recommendations.

• Cervical cancer screening every three years for women aged 21 to 29. Cervical cancer screening every 5 years for women 30 to 65.
• Colorectal cancer screening for adults aged 50 through 75.
• Task Force recommends that all women who are planning or capable of pregnancy take a daily supplement containing 0.4mg to 0.8 mg of folic acid.
• Task Force recommends screening for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women at first prenatal visit,
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Screening adolescents and adults aged 15 to 65 years.
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Screening pregnant persons
• Hypertension in Adults. Screening adults 18 years and older without known hypertension.
• Task Force recommends screening for syphilis infection in persons who are at increased risk for infection.
• Early screening for syphilis infection in all pregnant women.
• Tobacco smoking cessation in adults, including pregnant persons.

  There are additional important grade A and B recommendations.  For a complete list of recommendations.  Please see the following website www.uspreventiveservicetaskforce.org.

  Coastal Gateway Health Center can be reached by phone at 409.296.4444 or by email at [email protected].  Or for more information regarding our services and programs, please visit our website at www.coastalgatewayhc.org or find and follow us on Facebook.  We are proud to be #yourcommunityhealthcenter.